Fighter of the Elements
by Unknown-nin345
Summary: On the soon-to-be-named 'Great Naruto Bridge', takes place the fight we all know about mostly . But, what if Naruto was keeping a secret? One that he saw fit to reveal after Sasuke A.K.A.:Emo-king was taken down by Haku? Naurto with small Avatar&Mk parts
1. Chapter 1

Fighter of the Elements- Chapter 1

**Unknown-nin345: I'm not really sure where the idea for this came from. It just sort of gathered and collected over the course of a couple days, culminating in this. I'm sorry if you get confused when reading the first couple of paragraphs. I hope you like it.**

Disclaimer: I don't own any names/abilities/clothing/quotes/weapons/jutsus/bloodline limits from any other manga/anime/cartoon/book/video game/movie/fanfiction.

Uzumaki Naruto was mainly feeling two things right now as he kneeled in the center of a dome of ice panting a little heavily: tired and glad, but mostly tired. He was tired of so many things: hiding his appearance and abilities, his feelings about who it was he had a crush on (that's right, he didn't have a crush on the pink-haired banshee, Haruno Sakura), and finally he was tired from having to both dodge various ice needles while holding himself back from actually doing something that could finish the fight.

Now, the reason why he was glad was very simple. He no longer had to hold back since his teammate (if you could really call him that), Uchiha Sasuke, was no longer conscious. The broody boy had been pierced by three ice needles in a spot that would fake a death-like appearance. Just like what the fake hunter-nin had done with Zabuza.

Naruto chuckled and looked up at the masked figure whose image was reflected in each of the ice mirrors that the mystery person had made. The blonde-haired boy made his way into a standing position and addressed the figure, "Thanks for finally putting the teme to sleep."

The mystery hunter-nin tried to feign curiosity and asked in an almost perfectly curious voice, "What do you mean? Your friend is dead. Those needles were aimed for his vital points." Underneath the mask Haku sweated nervously, wondering if the blonde boy had noticed that the black-haired brat wasn't dead.

Naruto scoffed and jerked a thumb at the Uchiha. "Please. That's the exact same thing you did with Zabuza-san. So my thanks to you, Haku-san." The black-haired figure flinched in all of the windows. "Yeah, I figured it was you back when you were gathering herbs, although I'm still not clear on whether you're a guy or girl. Anyhow, I no longer have to hold back. I wasn't sure if his Sharingan could copy my abilities, so I decided to wait and see if you could knock him out."

"Would you truly use your comrades this way Naruto-kun?" Haku asked, wondering if perhaps Naruto was different from the first assumption that had been made of him.

"Haku-san, the brat lying on the ground there is obsessed with getting power. He thinks that because his older brother killed his entire clan means that he should be given everyone else's jutsus and strengths in order to 'avenge' his clan." Naruto flatly told Haku. "If he even suspected I was the least bit stronger than him, than he would whine and complain to the council of Konoha to give him more power. The sad thing is that many of the people on the council would, just to get in his good graces."

Haku's head shook from side to side sadly, "If only clans with bloodline limits had been treated that well in Mizu no Kuni." The masked figure conjured up some ice needles for each hand and said, "Unfortunately, Naruto-kun, the time for talking is over."

Naruto closed his eyes in concentration and smiled, "I couldn't agree more Haku-san."

Haku leapt from the mirror straight towards the still as stone Naruto who hadn't moved a muscled. Had Haku been paying attention; then maybe the wind coming in to swirl about the blonde would have been noticed sooner. As it was, Haku didn't and was already halfway to the blonde, arms cocked back to launch the needles, when his eyes snapped open and he sprang to action.

He jumped a little and launched out with a mid-air spin kick. At first Haku wanted to laugh at the stupid move that Naruto had just done… right before a burst of wind knocked the masked fighter right back into the mirror that Haku had just come from.

Naruto smirked and took the time that Haku was using to catch the breath the crash into the mirror had knocked out, and brought his hands up into the 'ram' handseal. A quick burst of chakra and smoke formed around his body. Haku watched as the smoke dissipated and revealed a different boy than the one from before.

The boy had the same blonde spiky hair as before except it reached down to his shoulder blades, with the hair from his neck to the shoulders being tied off in a short ponytail, but now seemed to be constantly blowing in a nonexistent breeze. Over a black short-sleeve shirt he was wearing an odd, dark-orange padded vest that came down from his shoulders in arcs, connecting at the belt on his waist **(a/n: Think Sub-zero or Scorpion from MK, just orange)**. He was wearing black pants that had pads on his knees and the sides of his thighs that were orange in color as well. On his feet were steel-toed black combat boots with small combat knives stuck into both of them. He had an additional kunai holster that hadn't been there before and finally, on both his hands were black leather gloves with orange forearms guards extending from his wrists. He had also grown a couple inches in height too, topping off at 5'5''.

But, if Haku were to say what the most startling feature of the transformation was, then the first feature that would come to mind would be his eyes. The inky black of the pupil had expanded to the edge of his iris, replacing the bright sapphire blue with a dark black. In the middle of the black orb where the pupil had once been, was the bright, shining silver kanji for 'wind'.

A smirk grew across Naruto's whiskered face as he stretched out a bit saying, "Man, it feels good to be me again. I hate having to use that stupid henge in order to hide my true self. Now," he settled into a fighting stance that emanated complete confidence in his skills. "Let's continue Haku-san."

Naruto launched at the mirror Haku was hanging from, a blade made of wind extending from his wrist. Haku managed to dodge out of the way just as Naruto lashed out with his super-sharp blade, cutting straight through the icy glass. Before Haku could make it to another mirror though, Naruto swung a fist in an arc at the ice-user that launched a gust of wind that threw Haku's body hard against one of the mirrors making the black-haired fighter shout in pain.

Haku's response was to throw another barrage of ice needles at Naruto. Naruto tried to dodge them by back flipping off the remaining piece of ice he had been hanging onto, but received a couple in his left leg. When he landed he was forced down to a knee due to the position the ice needles were in. Haku tried to capitalize on this and launched at the downed Konoha shinobi, but once again did not notice Naruto gathering wind to his hand.

Just as Haku reached him, Naruto swung his wind-surrounded fist upward. The tightly packed orb of wind that surrounded his fist exploded upon connecting with Haku's body, propelling the ice-user at high speeds straight through one of the ice mirrors. Haku broke through the suspended mirror, sending pieces of ice clinking onto the ground, and bounced on the ground before rolling to a halt.

With no immediate threat to him, Naruto pulled the ice needles out of his leg and stood up slowly. He stood on a single leg for a moment before he decided to test his weight on his recently needle-filled leg, there was only a dull throb compared to when the needles had been in so Naruto started to slowly walk to the downed Haku.

Naruto had just reached Haku when the black-haired ice-user managed to stand up. Looking at Haku, Naruto saw that his last attack had put an extremely long crack in the hunter-nin mask that covered Haku's face. Naruto was silent as he watched one part of the mask fell, revealing Haku's mouth and the trail of blood coming from it, then the other, showing the face of the person that had woken Naruto when he had fallen asleep in the woods. What troubled Naruto the most about this face though, was that it seemed content with what had just happened and looked ready to accept any fate, even death.

Before Naruto could say anything however, Haku softly spoke. "Please Naruto-kun…kill me."

The blonde jinchuuriki narrowed his eyes and the two silver kanji in his eyes glowed brighter as he stared at the person across from him. "Why? Why wish for your death so soon?"

Haku smiled sadly. "Zabuza-sama has no need for a weak tool. By defeating me you have shown that I'm not strong enough to serve at Zabuza-samas side. Please kill me."

Naruto looked down at the ground for moment before asking, "Why is he so important to you that you would just ask to be killed because you lost one fight?"

"In Mizu no Kuni those with Kekkai Genkais were killed off in a bloody holocaust. My mother had hidden her talents and married a simple farmer in order to try and lead a simple life. A couple years later I was born and for a while, I was happy. Then, I had discovered that I could manipulate water and change it to ice. I had showed it to my mother who got very scared and told me to never do it again. (A tear fell from Haku's eye.)

I think that was when my father found out. He came back to the house one night with a mob of other villagers. They killed my mother and were going to kill me next. The ice of my bloodline protected me by rising up and spearing every villager straight through their hearts. I ran and ran. The next few weeks were a blur to me as I moved from one town to the next, barely surviving. One day, the greatest thing happened to me. (A bright smile spread on Haku's face at this point)

Zabuza-sama found me. He didn't shun me like everyone else had and trained me to be his weapon…his tool. He is my most precious person, the one whom I would do anything for. So now you see Naruto-kun, why I asked you to kill me. I just cannot bear to disappoint Zabuza-sama with the knowledge that I failed a task he had given me."

Naruto lowered his head and closed his eyes in thought. He tried to imagine how he would feel if he had failed in a task given to him by the Sandaime Hokage, one of the few people Naruto cared about. After thinking for a brief moment he discovered that he might feel close to what Haku was at the moment.

He looked back up at Haku, the silver kanji in his eyes dimming slightly, and asked, "Could you do one last thing for me Haku-san? The wind tells me that what I see as your body isn't what it truly is. I'd like to see your true self."

"It seems that it is true that you cannot hide from the wind…Very well Naruto-kun, I does not matter now what people see me as since I am about to die." Haku brought both hands up in the ram seal, the same as Naruto had done just a couple minutes earlier. This time though, there was no poof of smoke to signify the canceling of the Henge no Jutsu.

Naruto was silent as he watched the change. Haku's chest extended out generously and became very round, her waist then got thinner as her hips and legs grew curvier. When the change was finished the blonde boy blushed lightly since Haku made a much better girl than guy.

"I can see why you might want to disguise yourself as a guy Haku-chan. With a great figure like yours then many of your opponents would greatly underestimate you." He complimented, drawing a blush from the girl.

"Yes, that is one of the reasons. If only we had met differently then I might have told you the other." She took a steadying breath and closed her eyes. "Please do it now, or else I won't be able to face Zabuza-sama."

Naruto stared sadly at her for a moment before he brought out a kunai from one of his pouches. He looked down at it, then back at Haku's face before nodding to himself. Without pause he whacked Haku in the forehead with the metal ring part of the kunai. The girl's fell to the ground, alive but unconscious.

"I'm sorry Haku-chan, but you didn't deserve to die. I'll be right back." He said to the softly breathing girl. He quickly turned and began running to where he could sense his sensei, Hatake Kakashi, and Zabuza's chakra signatures coming from.

When he arrived, he saw the Zabuza was being held in place by a group of dogs that had odd cloths with a strange symbol on them. His sensei meanwhile was holding what looked like a small ball of lightning. Naruto quickly figured out what his sensei was going to do and called on what remaining control he had over the wind to aid him; increasing his speed and shielding his arms in miniature cyclones of protective wind. He managed to reach Zabuza just as Kakashi did and crossed his cyclone-encased arms in an 'x' to block the ball of lightning of his sensei.

Kakahsi's eyes widened in shock at the new shinobi and jumped back a couple feet after it was clear that his chidori wasn't going to pierce the wind guarded arms of the newcomer. He cut the power to his Chidori and dispersed his ninken, silently observing the newcomer, finally noticing the Konoha hitai-ate of the shinobi.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" demanded the silver-haired ninja.

Zabuza snorted and scathingly said, "You must be a true idiot Kakashi to not even recognize one of your own students. He might be wearing new clothes and grew out his hair, but this is still the same blonde brat who freed you from the water prison in our lake fight. I'm guessing you beat Haku?" the last part being directed at Naruto.

Naruto took a couple steps forward and turned sideways so that he could keep both his sensei and Zabuza in his peripheral vision. He decided to make it easier on Kakashi and let his eyes go back to their normal, sapphire blue. The blonde ninja nodded to Zabuza's question, "Yes I did beat Haku, but I didn't kill him. He actually asked me to kill him since he didn't want to face you knowing that he had failed one of your tasks."

Kakashi chose to interject here. "I don't believe that. As you were Naruto, you wouldn't have been able to land a scratch on that fake hunter-nin. Sasuke would have been the one to beat him, not you."

Zabuza and Naruto both chuckled at that and said together, "That weak idiot was lucky to last as long as he did against Haku." The two looked at each other and raised an eyebrow each.

"Besides," Naruto continued, "You had no idea about my Kekkai Genkai and there's no way I'm going to tell you what it can allow me to do."

Kakashi growled in his throat, irritated both from the fight and the unexpected revelation of one of his student's secret. "Naruto, as your superior officer, I order you to tell me now!"

Naruto turned to fully face his sensei and leveled his own glare at the man. "Why?! Not once in the entire time you've been the leader of this team have you ever done anything to show me I should trust you. In fact there are only six people who know about my Kekkai Genkai in Konoha, and the Sandaime isn't even on that list. Not out of mistrust, but because he would have to tell the council which would try to do whatever they could to get their hands on it. Maybe if you would occasionally try to attempt to teach me something I might trust you more, as it is you've done absolutely nothing."

Kakashi sputtered for a second before he replied, "What about the tree climbing exercise?"

Naruto waved a hand nonchalantly, "Already knew it. Iruka-sensei taught it to me the night I became a genin. The only reason I had trouble doing here is because I had just upgraded my weights." Kakashi was struck silent at this.

Everybody turned their head when they heard a light clapping coming from the edge of the bridge. The remaining mist blew away to reveal a short man with a cane dressed in a business suit standing there. Behind him was a very large group of thugs,

The man sneered as he looked at them. "Well it seems like the Demon of the Mist is actually a baby demon instead. It looks like the three of you might have a little fight left in you so I might as well make this easy for me." He snapped his fingers and five figures garbed in clothing similar to Naruto sprang up from shadows in the ground. The five were all in black though instead of orange, each had some sort of mask covering their mouths and bright, piercing, neon blue eyes.

Naruto's eyes grew wide with worry and all he could say was, "Aww, crap!"

(End of Chapter)

**Unknown-nin345: Hi there all, as you can see this story is going to contain slight elements of Avatar and a little bit of Mortal Kombat. **

**When Naruto mentioned that only six people knew about his bloodline limit in Konoha here's the list: Hinata, Techui (the ramen stand owner), Ayame (Techui's daughter), Anko & Kurenai (they're like older sisters to Naruto and have looked after 'him' since he was seven), and finally Iruka. Now, that doesn't mean that no one else knows about the bloodline limit, that's just the list of those who know in Konoha at the moment. **

**Please review.**

**POWER TO THE CLIFFHANGERS!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Unknown-nin345: Hello again everyone, since the last chapter had such a good cliffhanger I decided to post this. This is technically the rest of chapter 1, but the spot I'd stopped at in chapter 1 was just a really good cliffhanger moment. Anyway, here's Chapter 2 of Fighter of the Elements, enjoy! (Remember the poll everyone!!)**

Disclaimer: I don't own any names/abilities/clothing/quotes/weapons/jutsus/bloodline limits from any other manga/anime/cartoon/book/comic/video game/movie/fanfiction.

"Aw, crap!" Naruto groaned as he looked over the five new figures, this would completely change the odds. He quickly looked over at his sensei and Zabuza to see if either one would be able to take on at least one of the black ninjas.

"Kakashi-sensei, Zabuza-san I think the two of you should handle Gatou's thugs. I'll handle the new ninjas." He told them as he moved his eyes back to the unmoving newcomers. Behind them Gatou started pushing his way through his thugs to get as far away as he could and yet could still see the fight.

"And just why should we do that brat?" Zabuza gruffly asked him, Kakashi just nodded his head in agreement.

"Three reasons." Naruto replied shortly. "One; at the moment if we were to double and combine yours and Kakashi-sensei's current chakra levels, it still wouldn't reach mine. Two; I know a little bit of how they fight, meaning that they won't surprise me as much as they would you two. And three; they probably only agreed to do this mission when they heard I would be here."

The two elder shinobi were silent for a moment as they considered this before Zabuza spoke. "One half-weary against five fresh and two weary against around seventy fresh. Hmph, not great odds either way considering all our chakra levels since those five newcomers feel like they're chunin level." The ex Kiri-nin regarded the blond with a neutral look. "Are you sure you will be able to take 'em brat?"

Naruto nodded slightly. "If not, then I'll call in some backup."

"Just who would you call in Naruto? There's no one else here and Sakura's busy guarding the client." Kakashi asked of his student.

"That's a surprise sensei. Let's just say it won't be anyone from any of the well known hidden villages." Naruto cheekily replied.

Before Kakashi could say anything else Zabuza interrupted him. "Oh, just leave it alone Copycat. It's going to be his fight so let him have it." He shouldered his zanbatou with his left arm, his right hanging at his side from when the dogs had bitten him, and turned to the thugs. Before he left to what would most likely be his final battle he looked down at Naruto and said, "Listen…Naruto. If I bite the dust here, I'd like it if you would look after Haku. She shouldn't be alone and by herself in the world. Fight well brat, and kick ass." With that he started walking with his back straight, head held high, and gleaming sword on his shoulder. He was ignored by the five ninjas as he walked past them and came to a halt in front of the thugs, glaring at them while exuding his killing intent.

As he watched Zabuza walk steadily to the crowd of thugs, Naruto was reminded of a quote he had read once: 'A man's character is not decided based on how he chooses to start things, but on how he decides to end them.'

Naruto turned his head to the side to meet his sensei's stare. "Kakashi-sensei, if I make it through this I promise that I will answer any questions you have. For now, just please do as I say."

The silver-haired jounin stared a second longer before he sighed and shook his head. "I can't believe I'm about to take orders from a genin." He stood up and stared hard at Naruto. "Alright we will do this your way, but I want those answers and we will be talking to Hokage-sama when we get back to Konoha."

Naruto nodded his head in assent and Kakashi calmly walked over to stand by Zabuza, his hands in his pockets. He too was ignored by the five black ninjas.

When Kakashi made it to Zabuza's side the former Kiri-nin grunted and said, "Looks we're allies now Kakashi."

"Looks like it."

"How 'bout we play a little game?" Kakashi looked at the eyebrow-less man next to him out of the corner of his eye. "Whoever kills the most thugs gets to chop off Gatou's dangly bits."

Kakashi chuckled and pulled out two kunai, spinning them around 'till he held them in reverse grips. "You Kiri-nins always were sadistic."

Zabuza snorted. "And you Konoha-nins are a bunch of tree huggers."

Gatou's shrill voice interrupted their banter. "What are you all waiting for?! Kill them!! Whoever brings me their heads will be paid triple!!"

The thugs looked at each other before looking back at the two shinobi in front of them, each one smirking darkly. Greed was a powerful motivator.

"Let's dance," Was all that the two shinobi said, in reply to Gatou's shrill shout. As one they plunged into the crowd of bandits; their blades slicing, dicing, cutting, and hacking with extreme prejudice.

Meanwhile, Naruto and the five others had yet to move from where they were standing.

The blonde shinobi's eyes scanned over his enemies, sizing up what he was up against. "So who sent you five?" He asked them, "Shang Tsung or Jii-Kal?"

"Silence fool!" The middle one shouted as he threw out an arm. "Your lips are not worthy enough to speak Lord Shang Tsung's name!"

Naruto smirked and said, "So the egomaniac sorcerer decided to send five of his warriors to their deaths, huh?" He closed his eyes, shaking his head sadly. "That's so like him."

The left-most one suddenly charged forward shouting, "Shut up! Tsung-sama would never do that!"

Just as the foolish fighter made it to Naruto the blonde's eyes snapped open, revealing once more the black orbs of his bloodline. Only this time, instead of the shining silver kanji, there rested the crackling golden kanji for 'Lightning'. His hair stood straight up and crackled with miniature bolts of lightning.

He swept the black fighter off his feet, kicked him in the side to launch him up a bit more, and delivered a double-palm thrust to the mans chest that also sent a quick burst of lightning throughout the mans body, sending him flying back to his companions.

"Idate!" The one who shouted this knelt down to check Idate's pulse. After fifteen seconds the man shook his head and all four turned to glare at Naruto, who was standing there in his fighting stance.

The four watched as Naruto held a hand straight to his side. From his fingertips lightning arced down to the ground and started moving up. They were silent, not revealing any thought, as a clone came from the lightning bolt.

Naruto and his new lightning clone took mirrored scorpion stances with their backs to each other (It's one of Kung Lao's fighting stances from MK: Shaolin Monks). As one they said in unison, "One down, who's next? We can each handle two of you."

On some unseen signal the four rushed at the two blondes, two heading for each, rising to the bait. The two Naruto's split up, each dodging in a different direction to handle their own enemies.

As the real Naruto blocked and evaded his attackers' blows he asked, "So why did you all leave the clan? Saibot-sama wasn't that bad of a leader was he?"

"Don't mention that weakling's name!" one of his attackers shouted as their attacks increased in fury. Naruto started sweating a bit from the exertion of blocking and dodging the blows.

"He was a fool to join the Alliance and renounce his old ways." The other one continued. "Shang Tsung-sama is a much better leader than that weakling ever was!"

"And yet," Naruto interjected as he caught both of their fist in an iron-clad grip. "He sent the five of you to your deaths. You're right, that's some leader."

"Shut up!!" The ninja on his left shouted as he tried to swing his other fist at Naruto. The blonde boy simply rolled back bringing his two enemies down with him. Before they were on top of him, he kicked out with both feet launching them a couple feet behind him.

Naruto quickly jumped back up to his feet as two loud shouts of pain erupted from the thinning mist. He looked over his shoulder and said, "I guess my bushin just finished off his enemies. He should be here any second now."

"You bastard!" One of his foes shouted as he was just about to land a sucker punch on Naruto.

Naruto, in response, spun extremely quick and caught the rusher in a clothesline in the neck, once again releasing a burst of lightning on contact. The black ninja went crashing to the ground, paralyzed, and before his companion could do anything Naruto drew out one of his combat knifes, kneeled down, and stabbed him twice; once in the forehead and in his heart.

The blonde boy stood back up and looked at the trembling form of his remaining enemy. Before he could figure out if it was from anger or fear, an intense, bright bolt of lightning lanced out with a loud crack and went straight through the body right where the heart was. Naruto blinked in surprise and turned around to see his lightning clone standing there with an arm extended, fingers smoking, pointed right at the black ninja. Said black ninja toppled over backwards, clutching at the hole in his chest.

"That was mine idiot!" He told the clone.

The clone just shrugged, "You were taking too long."

Naruto shook his head, "You lightning clones are so impatient. I'd hate to see what the fire clones are going to be like."

"Whatever, can I go now?" The clone asked him.

"Yeah, yeah. Geez." With another crack the lightning clone dispersed.

Free of enemies, Naruto sat down and breathed out heavily. All the fighting had taken a toll on his chakra systems since his entire chakra reserves had shifted to wind and lightning elements during each of his changes. Normally he would have a longer rest in between changes, but there was no time today.

A shrill scream drew his attention to where the two elder shinobi were standing beyond the bloody dead bodies of all the thugs.

"Woah." Naruto whispered softly when he saw the damage the two elder shinobi had dished out…and taken.

Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist, had about 9 or 10 spears and swords sticking out of his back in addition to a multitude of scratches. It looked like the only thing keeping him standing upright was his sword. Kakashi had fared better, his only major wound being a long gash on his left arm, but he bore his own scratches as well.

Naruto watched in silent awe as Zabuza raised his blood-soaked zanbatou and brought it down on the still screaming Gatou, severing the tycoon's head from the rest of the body and silencing the screams. Naruto wearily stood and began walking over to where the two jounins stood as Kakashi lowered his hitai-ate over his red Sharingan eye and Zabuza collapsed down to his knees with the blade coming to a rest on the ground beside him.

Naruto reached the two and all three were silent, save for the ex Kiri-nin's ragged breathing. The blonde was just about to speak when a small shout came from behind him.

"Zabuza-sama!" Haku came rushing up and latched onto Zabuza, crying slightly. Zabuza looked startled for a second before he brought his good arm around in the only hug he had given in his life. Naruto and Kakashi stood in silence; there was nothing for them to say.

He held her for a long minute before he hoarsely started to speak. "Haku." She pulled back to look at him, sniffling slightly. "I don't have much time. These stupid sticks stuck in my back aren't going to let me stay in this world. I want you to grow strong and become beautiful." Haku nodded, tears still flowing.

Zabuza wiped his hand on his chest, covering it with blood, and reached over to his sword. He ran his hand over the kanji on the blade, which had strangely remained clear of blood. When all the symbols were covered the blade started shining with a bright white.

"Haku, this sword has been passed from parent to child in the Momochi family for the past 7 generations. If I were ever to have a child, I would without a doubt want it to be you." He coughed here, his white bandages turning red from the blood, while Haku once again started crying.

"I pass it now to you…my daughter, Momochi Haku. Place a couple drops of your blood on the blade and it will change itself to suit you. Only you will be able to use it, until you decide to pass it on to your child." Haku blushed lightly at this, but did as she was told and pricked one of her fingers with a sebon needle. She held her finger over the glowing blade, letting a couple drops fall onto it. The ice-user drew her hand back when the blade's color changed from the white glow to an icy-blue glow.

The four watched in silence, Zabuza's eyelids fluttering, as the blade shrank down in size to the length of a common katana. The blade then grew wavy, like a slithering snake, and the handle twisted, becoming a spiraling spike. The glow died down to reveal that the zanbatou had changed to kris blade, the metal an icy-blue like the light had been.

Haku gasped softly as she grabbed it and held it up. "It's so light." She squinted and held the blade the horizontally. Barely visible were kanji that spelled: Winter's Fury.

Zabuza nodded slowly. "It's your sword now." He turned his head over to Naruto and stared hard. "Remember your promise, or I will come back to personally drag you back with me." Naruto gulped nervously and nodded. "Good. Haku, I want you to go back to Konoha with these guys."  
Haku looked away from her sword back at her surrogate father. "But what about your dream?"  
Zabuza shrugged and chuckled bloodily. "It doesn't matter now. The bastard will die one day; I'll just have to live with the fact that it wasn't me who did it." His breathing slowed down and eventually stopped.

Haku choked back a sob and gently laid down Zabuza before she started removing weapons stuck in his back. Naruto moved forward and helped her finish up, when that was done he bent down and slung one of the dead Kiri-nin's arms over his shoulders and lifted him up.

He looked up at his sensei and said, "I'll see you back at Tazuna's in a bit Kakashi-sensei. You'll get your answers then."

Kakashi nodded and started walking to where his other students were while Haku shushined her and Naruto, along with Zabuza's dead body, to a cliff overlooking the bridge.

Kakashi had just walked to where he could hear the sound of soft crying and saw his pink-haired student bent over the body of her crush. He shook his head at her inattentiveness and waited for his black-haired student to wake up, ignoring the stare of the bridge builder.

"Alright Sasuke, time to wake up." The last Uchiha grunted and stirred before he opened his eyes. Sakura shouted out in happiness and quickly hugged Sasuke.

When the pink-haired banshee finally let go of Sasuke the black-haired boy looked around and asked "Did we win? And where's the dobe?"  
Kakashi sighed, "Yes, we won. Gatou's dead and Naruto is currently running an errand for me."

Sakura looked around and asked, "Where's Zabuza and that fake hunter-nin?"

"Well, after Sasuke was knocked unconscious by the hunter-nin, Naruto managed to place an explosive note on one of the mirrors." Kakashi explained, making up the lie on the spot, "When the hunter-nin went into that mirror Naruto activated the note, which blew the hunter-nin down into the water below. Zabuza meanwhile, was killed when he went after Gatou who arrived and claimed he was never going to pay Zabuza. Zabuza managed to kill Gatou, but had been pierced with too many weapons to survive. That's sort of involved with the errand I asked Naruto to do."

"What?"

"He's burying them. Even though they were our enemies they were fighters to be respected and didn't deserve to be left to the scavengers." Kakashi calmly explained to his students and the client.

Tazuna nodded his head. "Well, now that Gatou's dead we'll be able to finish the bridge in no time. Let's go tell the village!"

Sakura helped Sasuke stand up, Inner Sakura doing a happy dance inside her head, and they turned to leave the bridge. They had just made it to land when a large crowd showed up; the villagers had rallied and armed themselves to come do away with Gatou once and for all.

Kakashi's one eye blinked in surprise before he jerked a thumb over his shoulder and said, "You're a little late. Gatou's dead."

The crowd was stunned greatly, before they all started cheering and celebrating. The large group headed back into the village to continue the celebration, while the three shinobi and their client headed back to Tazuna's house for some rest.

Meanwhile, with Haku and Naruto, the two of them had just finished digging the grave and had laid Zabuza to rest. Haku had fashioned a tombstone of ice using her bloodline in the shape of the dead Kiri-nin's zanbatou. The two were silent as they each said silent words of prayer.

As the two were leaving the gravesite to head back to Tazuna's house, a circle of ice formed on the path in front of them. Naruto quickly pushed Haku behind him, since it was clear she wasn't doing it, and readied himself.

The ice shot up, forming the figure of a muscular man who had his arms crossed. When the statue was finished the ice broke apart, revealing the man who had just arrived. He was garbed similarly to Naruto with a few exceptions. The color on his vest and pads was a dark blue; he wore a black hood and a thick, metal facemask that was the same dark blue as his vest. He had a scar running over his left eye, with that eye being a milky blue instead of the same sapphire blue as his other eye. Finally, his vest had a medallion on it with the image of an upside-down triangle that both covered and was overlapped by an odd upside-down 'y' that was blocked & designed with curves on each end.

Upon seeing who it was Naruto quickly dropped to one knee with a closed fist touching the ground and said, "Master Sub-Zero." Haku looked confused at why Naruto would be doing this when he had earlier showed disrespect to his sensei.

The Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei ninja was silent for a moment before he spoke. "Naruto, is the only reason you're doing this because there is someone else here?" He asked the blonde boy.

"Of course not Master!" Naruto quickly replied.

Sub-Zero shook his head. "So it is because someone else is here." He looked over at Haku and said, "He's never this respectful if it's just the two of us. Anyway, I'm not here to discuss how one of my students behaves. Naruto," The blonde boy looked up at the Lin Kuei master, "I saw how you handled yourself in your recent battle and I have decided you're ready."

Naruto jumped to feet, "You mean I can finally take the Advancement Test?"

Sub-Zero nodded. "If you manage to pass the Test, then you'll receive your mask and become an official member of the Lin Kuei clan."

"When do I take it Master?" Naruto eagerly asked.

"You'll take it tomorrow." He reached into some unseen pocket and pulled out a medallion, which he handed to Naruto. "Channel some of your chakra into this and you'll be transported to the site where you will take your test."

Naruto grasped the medallion tightly and bowed low. "Thank you Master, for believing I am ready."

Sub-Zero bowed back and straightened himself. "Remember Naruto, you still have to pass the other tests before you can receive It…and fulfill your promise."

Naruto nodded his head, still in his bow, and said somberly, "I know Master."

"Right then, see you tomorrow!" Sub-Zero sunk back into another circle of ice, but not before he cast a quick, curious glance at Haku.

Naruto straightened up and looked at the medallion in his hand; it bore the symbol of the Lin Kuei clan and shined in the light of the setting sun.

"Naruto-kun, what did he mean?" Haku gently asked him.

Naruto turned slightly to look at her and said, "My kaa-san's sword which was left with the clan by my tou-san. The promise...is one that I made a long time ago to someone very important to me." He put the medallion back in his pocket and turned back to the path. "Now come on, let's head back to the old drunk's house."

Haku was silent as she followed him down the path.

(Chapter End)

**Unknown-nin345: Well, now you got to see some of the MK attributes this story will have, there will be more! Next time: Naruto reveals his history (which will include his clan's history), takes a test, and a shocking discovery.**

**(1)— Go to Google images and type in 'Lin Kuei clan symbol' to get an accurate picture of what I'm trying to describe.**

**P.S. – The head ninjas in the Ninja Alliance I mentioned in the chapter are as follows: Sub-zero, Scorpion, Reptile, Noob Saibot, Smoke, Chameleon, Cyrax, Sektor, and Kitana (She's the only female head and leads a clan of only Kunoichi with Jade being her lover). **

**Please vote and review! Until next chapter……**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Unknown-nin345: Hello all and welcome to the third chapter of FotE. I was surprised when I checked my review list and found one from one the better-known fanfic authors, one whose stories I am a big fan of: VyseN. **

**In it he mentioned that he thought the pairing for the story was going to be NarutoXHaku, I'm sorry to say to those who think that also…but that's not the pairing for this story (Seriously, I really like to see Naruto get together with a fem. Haku). **

**I'll tell you what the pairing (for Naruto) is right now, just so you don't get confused and ask me what the pairing is later; the pairing is: Naruto X Oc. Alright? Now, don't leave me any reviews telling me who to pair Naruto up with and I won't have to give ya a Boot to the Head.**

**On with the story…**

When Naruto and Haku arrived back at Tazuna's house, they found Kakashi sitting at the table sipping a cup of tea and still managing to keep his lower face hidden. The masked cyclops tilted his head at the spot across from him, gesturing for Naruto to take a seat there as he said, "Come sit down. Tsunami-san brewed some tea just now, it's quite delicious. Sasuke and Sakura are resting upstairs at the moment as well as Tazuna-san's family, so we don't have to worry about being overheard."

Naruto silently took his seat with Haku sitting down on his left, her icy-blue kriss sword being laid down on the floor beside her. The two each accepted a cup of tea from Kakashi, nodding their thanks.

The three of them were silent before Naruto sighed. "Alright Kakashi, I promised you answers so go ahead and ask your questions."

"Are you sure you want her to hear all this?" Kakashi asked, tilting his head slightly to indicate the ice-user, seemingly not affected by the lack of 'sensei'.

"Right now, I trust her more than I trust the Teme King or the Banshee Queen." Naruto replied stonily, at his side Haku snickered lightly.

"But they're your teammates Naruto. Surely they deserve some level of trust." Kakashi said incredulously.

Naruto snorted at that. "Oh sure scarecrow, I trust them." Kakashi began to look relieved until Naruto finished his statement. "I trust them to always hate my guts. Hatake-san, even with the Sharingan you sure are blind."

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed a bit. "It can't be that bad."

"Oh sure, so long as I don't do anything that threatens Sasuke's superiority and say anything bad about him, or even show him up, then everything is just peachy between the three of us." Naruto said sarcastically. "Maybe if you actually spent some time with your genins that you are supposed to be teaching, then maybe you might get a clue. As it is, you barely have taught us anything at all, although I think you might be secretly teaching the emo-king up there and leaving me and pinky in the dust."

"I have not been teaching Sasuke secretly." Kakashi denied.

"That's the only thing you're going to deny?" Naruto asked, with a raised eyebrow. "So I guess everything else I said is true. Do you truly not care if any of us dies?"

Kakashi sighed sadly and looked down at the table. "I do care, it's just that…whenever I look at the three of you I'm reminded of the time when I was a genin. I'm the only one of that team who is still alive today and you three act almost exactly like me and my teammates back then. So I try to spend as little time as possible to keep the more painful memories away."

"Let me guess," Naruto said, "Sasuke is you, isn't he? Then Sakura is obviously your female teammate and who am I supposed to be?"

Kakashi chuckled lightly. "Believe it or not, you're the most like my teammate who was defying his clan just by being his self: Uchiha Obito."

Naruto's mouth dropped. "No way, you mean there was once an Uchiha who knew the meaning of fun?" Kakashi nodded and Naruto put a hand to his forehead. "I wonder if he was a prankster."

"He was, though you're a much better one, and he would always wear this neon yellow jacket. He was the one whom I got my tardy streak and stupid excuses from." Kakashi said while smiling beneath his mask.

Naruto shook his head in amazement, smiling as well. "Man, I would have loved to meet him." He looked up at Kakashi and said, "In a way he's still alive you know? Through that eye, he can still watch the world."

"Yeah, I know." Kakashi took a lightning fast sip of tea and said, "I think though, that we've gotten off track. I'm supposed to be asking you questions remember?"

Naruto nodded and took a sip of his tea as well. "Go ahead and ask." He said to the silver-haired jounin.

"Have you ever left Konoha before now?" Kakashi started his questioning.

"Yes, I left when I was six." Naruto answered shortly.

"How? I know that you were inside the village walls since I heard there were a couple attacks on you."

"On the night before my sixth birthday, I came across this old man who was dressed a little strangely. He, apparently, knew my father and had been asked by him to take care of me in case he died. And no Kakashi, it wasn't Jiraiya." He added seeing Kakashi gaining a look of recognition. "No, this man was the last member of the clan my father had belonged to before he came to Konoha and became a ninja. It's from my father that I get my bloodline limit, which you saw today.

"Anyways, this man offered to take me away from Konoha to a place where I could learn to be a ninja and not have to fear for my life. Needless to say, I accepted and he performed this odd ninjitsu that created a perfect copy of me, so that no one would get suspicious of the fact the 'demon brat' was missing. Before we left though, I asked if I could say goodbye to the six people who I trusted, besides Jii-san. After I had said goodbye to them and informed them of where I would be, as well as when I would be coming back to Konoha.

"We then left Konoha to the place I stayed at for the next 8 years, since I would receive letters from the six in Konoha from time to time. Once there I learned how to fight and how to use my bloodline limit. Once I received that said I had Iruka-niisan as an instructor and that the final exam would be soon, I decided to come back.

"I arrived back in Konoha on the day of the final exam by sneaking in from the Hokage monument. I watched as my clone failed the final exam and how he was approached by Mizuki-teme. Once my clone was alone, I dispersed it and gained all of its memories. I guess it was an extremely advanced Kage Bushin.

"So, I went and did the 'extra test' Mizuki-teme said would allow me to become a genin. I snuck into the Hokage's personal library, took the Forbidden Scroll after managing to knock Jii-san unconscious with the Oiroke no jutsu my clone had created, and then headed out to a cabin in the woods my clone had been shown once by Iruka-niisan just in case he needed a place to lay low in.

"After I learned a couple jutsu from the scroll Iruka-niisan showed up and I quickly told him that I wasn't the clone, but the real Naruto. Right after that Mizuki-teme showed up and tried to tell me all about why everyone hated me and that I was the great Kyuubi no Kitsune. Both Iruka-niisan and I laughed in his face.

"I had found out about the Kyuubi during my time at where I had been staying at and had sent letters to the six in Konoha, Iruka-niisan being one of them, about what it. Not one of the six sent back letters that said they hated me, they may hate the fox but they didn't hate me. Anyways, Mizuki-teme decided to attack us by throwing a large shuriken at the two of us.

"We both dodged the metal star and I decided to end it quickly. I used one of the jutsu I had just learned from the Scroll, Kage Bushin no Jutsu, and pounded Mizuki-teme into a bloody pulp. Once that was done, Iruka-niisan gave me his headband and said that if I could take down a chunin with only one jutsu then I deserved to be a genin. He then quickly told me the basics for the tree climbing exercise as we made our way to the Hokage.

"Jii-san congratulated me on learning how to use Kage Bushins and apologized for not telling me about Kyuubi sooner. Apparently, he had put a law into place where only I could tell people about the fox, anyone else would be executed. I asked him if he could tell me about my parents since I could tell he had been lying whenever he had said to me or my clone that he didn't know.

"Again he apologized and said that my father told him that I couldn't be told who they were until I either turned sixteen or made chunin. I then said back to him, "Well, I guess you're only going to be telling me about my father then. I already know about my mother." I then exited the office before he could say anything back.

"Then came the day when we were assigned teams and you know the rest." Naruto said, finishing his long explanation. He picked up his teacup and finished off the last dregs of it before pouring himself some more. Haku meanwhile, was sipping her tea off to the side since she had been told most of this when her and Naruto were digging Zabuza's grave.

"So you know who your mother is, but not your father?" Kakashi asked after a moment of silence.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Kakashi and said, "It wasn't hard to figure out. I looked up my last name and discovered there was once a place in Mizu no Kuni called Uzumakigakure. Evidently, there would have most likely been an Uzumaki clan, if not family, there. Unfortunately, it was destroyed about two decades before I was born." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I discovered there was only one survivor, a red-haired woman named Uzumaki Kushina, the Kyuudiame Rasenkage. I know she's my mother because I sometimes have this vague dream, which I think is actually a memory, of being held by a smiling red-haired woman before I'm taken from her arms."  
" Do you know anything about your father?" The one-eyed jounin asked the blonde boy.

Naruto shrugged as he said, "Only what he was called while he was still a part of the clan; Kazama Arashi. Also that he had mastered the use of the lightning element which he incorporated into one of his jutsus."

"Can you tell me anything about your bloodline limit?" Kakashi asked, hiding his apprehension, since he had a good idea about just who Naruto's father was from the little bits of information given.

"Might as well, rumors would spread anyways." The blonde boy shifted a little and cleared his throat. "The clan never really came up with a name for it, since they were never as big as, say, the Hyuuga clan or the Uchiha clan. What it allows us to do, is to convert all of our chakra into a specific element, usually the one we would have been aligned with anyways, and lets us manipulate that element however we wished. Many of the clan would only choose to master one element since choosing to master multiple elements results in the eye change that you saw on the bridge and that would alert other shinobi to the fact that what they were doing wasn't a jutsu."

"Can a person use multiple elements at the same time?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, although I was told that it takes an enormous amount of concentration to use even two at once. When one does that, the kanji for one element would appear in one eye with the other kanji showing up in the other eye. I'm not sure what happens when three or more elements are used together."

Kakashi nodded. "Can any element be used?"

Naruto shook his head as he said, "As far as I know; only the main five elements can be used. But there is a legend in the clan about how every few generations there would be one who would be able to use the elements of light and darkness, this one would have to experience the best and the worst of life before he could use them though." He shrugged before finishing, "As I said it's a legend only, there's never been record of anyone in the clan being able to use those two elements."

"It's an impressive bloodline nonetheless." Kakashi stated.

"Yeah, and it could make my life very annoying should the Council find out about it." Naruto sourly said.

Kakashi just nodded his head before he asked, "Are you going to put your henge back up when we make it back to Konoha?"

"Nah, like I said before, the rumors would spread anyways. The time is past for hiding who I am." He said to the silver-haired cyclops. He then asked, "How long are we going to be staying here before we head back to Konoha?"

Kakashi sighed and said, "Well, I've told Tazuna-san that we would stay here until the bridge is completed, just in case bandits or something like that try to interfere with its building. Why?"

"There's something important I have to do tomorrow. It won't take long and I should be back before the day is over with. It's clan business." Naruto said.

Kakashi was silent as he stared at Naruto before he sighed and asked, "You're sure you'll be back before tomorrow is over?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'll be back before sundown, unless I get assassinated or something." He said, jokingly at the end.

"Alright, but make sure you leave before Sasuke and Sakura wake up, I'll tell them they can take the day off since you're guarding the bridge." Kakashi said resignedly.

"Thank you, Kakashi-san. I'll take Haku with me, so you won't have to worry about explaining anything to the others about her yet." Naruto said, tilting his head in Haku's direction. A silence descended upon the three since Kakashi had used up all the questions he had planned on and Naruto just had nothing more to say to him.

All of a sudden, Kakashi asked, "So… are you and Haku-san here getting together?" Both Naruto and Haku spit out the tea they had been drinking, spraying the silver-haired cyclops with the brown liquid.

--- (Sunrise the Next Day) ---

Naruto, Haku, and Kakashi stood outside as the three silently watched the sunrise over the horizon on the cliff where Zabuza was buried. After a couple minutes, Kakashi turned back to the path and walked back to Tazuna's house, reading from his little orange book.

When he was gone, Naruto turned to Haku (who had managed to fashion a holster for her kriss blade on her back that would allow her to draw it without destroying the holster) and asked, "So Haku-chan, do you mind me asking what the other reason was that you had for disguising yourself as a guy?"

Haku shook her head. "No, I don't mind, but promise you won't laugh ok?" Naruto nodded seriously. Haku sighed before she continued. "The other reason that I disguise myself as a guy is, well, because it makes it easier to flirt with other girls."

"Wait." Naruto interrupted. "So does that mean you're a…" He trailed off, not wanting to make it seem like he was mocking her or anything like that.

"A Lesbian? Yeah, I am." Haku finished quietly, blushing lightly. "I would even read Zabuza-sama's Icha Icha collection at times. No really," She added when she noticed Naruto's look. "They're really well written and they're not all about sex like most women think they are. There's plenty of drama and romance that any women would love if she would just give the books a chance, not to mention the suspense the end of each chapter leaves you in."

Naruto held up his hands defensively. "Hey, I never said anything about them. I know all about what's written in them anyways."

"Huh, what do you mean Naruto-kun?" Haku asked curiously.

Naruto scratched the back of his head as he said, "The author of the books is my Godfather, so he sometimes lets me look at them before they would come out to see if they were any good. It was sort of like I was his free test reader or something like that." He shrugged. "I could introduce you to him the next time I meet up with him, just be careful when you do meet him Haku-chan." Naruto warned.

"Why?"

"He'll try to spy on you while you're in the hot springs, or relaxing in a bathing suit somewhere, and try to put you into one of his books." Naruto said with a straight face. "He's a super pervert."

Haku put a finger to her chin in thought. "Well, so long as he made the character he based on me have a lesbian relationship; I guess I might not mind."

Naruto shook his head in amazement. "Wow, this is the first time I met a woman who wouldn't mind being in Ero-sennin's books. Not even Anko-neechan and Kurenai-neechan wanted anything to do with those books, and they usually don't care about that kind of thing."

"What do you mean?" Haku asked him.

"Well, Anko-neechan and Kurenai-neechan are lesbian girlfriends. They usually kiss in public, hold hands, and sometimes Anko-neechan does a little groping on Kurenai-neechan. She told me once that she likes the little squeak Kurenai-neechan makes whenever her ass gets grabbed." Naruto explained with a smile and chuckle.

Haku giggled and asked, "Are they the only lesbian couple in Konoha?"

"They're the only one that I know of. There might be other couples, but those two are the only ones who are open about it." Naruto answered. He looked over to the rising sun and said, "I think we should be going now, I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing for the test so it's best I get there as soon as I can." Haku nodded as Naruto drew out the medallion Sub-Zero had given him the other day.

Haku placed a hand on his shoulder as Naruto began channeling his chakra into the metal disk, making the gold shine with a sapphire light. Rings of golden light then started floating up from the ground around the two shinobi, speeding up over the course of seconds. Soon, the rings joined to form a column of golden light that glowed brighter and brighter. The two disappeared from the cliff in a brief flash of gold light.

++++++++++++++ (Scene Change) ++++++++++++++

The two stumbled a little when the teleportation ended and saw that they were standing, in knee-deep snow, before an extremely large Shaolin-styled monastery. Snow was falling heavily as the two made their way up to the large gates. When Naruto and Haku reached the gate two life-like, and life-size, ice sculptures that had been located on either side of the entrance shattered and were replaced by two men who were dressed similarly to Sub-Zero.

"Halt." The two said together. "What is your business here?"

Naruto snorted and stepped forward as he said, "Geez, I guess it didn't take long for people here to forget about me did it?"

The one on the right lowered his guard and said, "Oh! Naruto-san, welcome back. Grandmaster Sub-Zero left word to expect you. I'll go let him know you're here, you should head to the Arena now." With that, he disappeared in a poof of blue smoke.

Naruto turned to the other guard and asked, "The Arena? But, won't the others be practicing there."

The guard shook his head. "Not today. It's going to be used for your acceptance test."

"Ah." Naruto intelligently replied. He looked back at the black-haired girl, who didn't even seem to be shivering in the cold weather, and gestured his head towards the entrance. "Well, let's get going Haku-chan." Haku just nodded as she followed the blonde boy into Monastery. For a while, the two walked in silence with Naruto leading the way and Haku simply taking in all the sights of the Monastery.

One sight in particular, which was causing her to have a slight nosebleed, made her ask, "Naruto-kun, why do all the females here wear next to nothing?" Indeed, the one with the most clothing on she had seen was wearing a skin-tight leather jumpsuit that had a v-cut all the way down to the girl's belly button.

With a smirk that Haku couldn't see, Naruto said, "Less clothing means less noise is made when the person is sneaking about. Plus, it serves to distract any male that they happen to fight when they're on a mission."

"Do any of the men in here, you know, try to grope the women?" Haku asked when she saw a girl who was only wearing a vinyl bra, thong, and thigh-length boots walk by.

"No, not even when a guy and a girl are sparring against each other." Naruto replied as he turned a corner.

"Why not? Surely it gets to where a guy can't take it anymore right?" Haku asked.

Naruto held up two fingers as he answered. "Two reasons. One: the girls here are more than able to take care of themselves and would most likely castrate those that might try. And Two--" Naruto was interrupted by a female voice that brought him to a complete stop.

"Once they reach the age of 17, a guy and a girl can get together. The blonde baka here forgot that little rule though when we met." The voice said amused. Haku turned to look at the source of the voice while Naruto didn't move at all.

The girl leaning in the doorway had bright sea-green hair that flowed all the way down to the small of her back with her eyes being the same color. Her lips, were they not covered by a bright sea-green facemask, were also a bright sea-green (notice the theme yet?). Her shirt, which was once more bright sea-green, came down to her waist and seemed to fit like a second skin and accentuated her assets, while the sleeves stopped at the middle of her biceps. She was wearing bright sea-green gloves with a black line running from the tip of her middle finger to the end of the glove that stopped at the middle of her forearm. She wasn't wearing any shorts or pants; instead she had a bright sea-green cloth with a black trim that hung down her front and back which shielded the sea-green thong she wore from view. Bright sea-green vinyl boots came all the way up to the middle of her thighs where two long knives were strapped to her legs. Finally, hanging around her neck was a silver medallion that depicted a soaring eagle.

She walked over to Naruto, who finally turned to face her, and slapped him. "That was for leaving without saying goodbye." She then pulled down her facemask and turned Naruto's head to look at her. "And this is for being back." The green-haired girl began to make out with the blonde boy who wrapped his arms around her waist while she wrapped hers around his shoulders.

When the two broke apart, the girl turned her head to Haku and asked, "Who's this?"

Naruto cleared his throat and said, "This is Momochi Haku. Haku-chan, meet my sort-of girlfriend: Mizukiko Liana."

The two girls shook hands while Liana raised an eyebrow and asked, "Haku-chan? Does this mean I'm going to have some competition for Naruto-kun's affection?"

Haku smiled and shook her head. "Not unless he turns into a girl. I'm a lesbian, you see."

Liana smiled back and said, "So this place must be like heaven to you, huh? All these sexy girls walking around, near naked, must be driving you crazy."

"Oh, you have no idea Liana-san." Haku said with a small sigh.

"Hey, Liana-chan?" Naruto asked; when the girl looked back at him he continued, "Do you think you could take Haku-chan to the Arena? There's something I need to grab from my room real quick before I go take the test."

Liana shrugged, "Sure, why not?" Before the boy could leave, she planted one more kiss on his lips. With a small smile, the blonde took off down the hallway.

Liana looked back at Haku and asked with a small smile as she pulled her mask back up, "I'm not going to have to worry about you trying to pinch my ass as we walk am I?"

Haku smirked back and teasingly said, "No promises." The two girls giggled as they started walking down the hallway together.

After a couple minutes of walking Haku asked, "So, uh, what did you mean when you said that Naruto forgot that little rule Liana-san?"

Liana glanced at her out of the corner of her eye and said, "Naruto-kun and I met about two years ago during a sparring session. It was pretty much love at first sight for both of us." She stopped at the end of the hallway and leaned her back against it before she continued, "So we kept meeting in secret and kept our relationship a secret from everyone. Neither of us could really wait until we had turned seventeen to get together." She sighed a little sadly and paused.

"So, what happened?" Haku asked.

"If a relationship where the participants are below seventeen is discovered right when it starts, the two teenagers are usually given a stern reprimand to wait a couple more years, and usually that works. However, if the relationship discovered has been going on for a long time in secret then something harsher is done." Liana explained.

Haku brought her hands up to her mouth and asked, "You mean you and Naruto?"

Liana shook her head. "No, even though we had been together for a little over a year, we weren't punished. Naruto made some sort of deal with the head ninjas, one he still hasn't told me about yet. All he said, when he came out of the chamber, was that while we could still be together, we couldn't be excessive about our relationship."

"For good reason." A woman's voice said from around the corner. The woman who walked around almost made Haku faint with a nosebleed. She had black hair that was done up in a ponytail and a pink veil covering her mouth. On her well-endowed torso was a top that just covered her nipples, she was wearing a black thong with a short pink cloth covering her front.

Liana bowed as she said, "Mileena-sama." She straightened back up and asked, "What do you mean?"

Mileena smirked underneath her veil and said, "If you knew what the deal consisted of you probably would have went and accepted the punishment, regardless of what your boy might say to stop you."

"Can you tell me what that is?" Liana asked.

Mileena shook her head. "Sorry Liana. Reptile forbade me from say anything, as is Jade." She smile and tipped her head in a random direction as she said, "You better get going though if you want to see your boy in action." With that, she turned and walked away with Haku following the sway of her round rear until she was out of sight.

Liana shook her head before she noticed Haku's stupor; she waved a hand in front of Haku's face before she tried snapping. When that didn't work she sighed and raised a hand, then brought it down on Haku's ass.

The ice-user let out a loud 'eep!' as she snapped out of the trance. She turned to glare at a smirking Liana and asked while rubbing her sore rear, "Why'd you do that?"

"You were in a stupor after seeing Mileena-sama's ass. You weren't reacting to the world so I decided to do something that might bring you back to Earth." Liana said nonchalantly.

"Well, you didn't have to slap my ass so hard." Haku grumbled as she continued to rub her butt.

"Well maybe you should get more used to seeing a woman's naked body." Liana countered. "Seriously, you won't get anywhere as a lesbian if a bare butt freezes you up."

"To be honest, this is my first time seeing women who reveal so much of their bodies." Haku said in a small voice.

Liana tilted her head to the side as she asked, "You mean you've never been in a woman's only hot spring before?"

Haku shook her head. "No, Zabuza-sama kept us on the move too much and he thought I might get recognized if I ever went into someplace so public."

"So, do you know about the… birds & the bees?" Liana asked.

Haku smiled lightly and said, "Icha Icha Paradise."

"Ah." Liana looked down a hallway and seemed to think about something for a minute before she looked back at Haku and jerked her head to the right. "Come with me for a quick second, there's something I want to show you." She started walking back down the hallway that the two had just come from.

"But what about Naruto-kun's test?" Haku asked as she followed.

"Don't worry, they'll sound a gong when they want everyone to gather at the Arena and where we're going isn't too far." Liana assured the black-haired girl. As if to prove her point, she turned into the doorway where Haku had first seen the green-haired girl.

Haku followed Liana through the door as the green-haired girl waved out an arm as she said, "Welcome to my room." It was a simple room with a normal bed, a desk with a comfortable chair, a sea-green beanbag chair, a closet, a dresser, and on a nightstand next to the bed was a small picture of Naruto and her wrapped in each other's arms, sharing a tender kiss.

Liana walked over to a spot on the wall where an odd symbol lay carved into one of the bricks. She placed her fingers in the grooves of the symbol and turned it to the left. There was a 'click' and the brick popped out of the wall; in the space left by the brick's removal was a stack of magazines.

The green-haired girl pulled one out of them and tossed it to Haku as she said, "Here, take a look at this." Haku paused when she saw the cover of the magazine, for on it was a picture of a naked woman lying on a bed of rose petals. The title read; 'PLAYBOY'.

Haku looked back up at a smirking Liana, a small bit of blood leaking from her nose, and asked, "What's this?"

"It's a magazine that normally only men order. I only collect them for the funny little stories in them. But since you're a lesbian…well, take a look inside it." Liana said.

Haku did so, right at where the magazine featured pictures of sexy women in varying stages of undress. The black-haired girl noticed that one of the pages seemed folded in to the center of the magazine and pulled it out; her eyes widening as more blood leaked from her nose. On the centerfold were two women pressing their bodies up against each other with their hands resting on the others hip.

"You can have the rest of them if you want." Liana's voice shook Haku out of la-la-land. The black-haired girl looked up and saw that Liana was holding a scroll in her hand. "I finished reading all the stories a while to go."

It took Haku a moment to answer before she nodded. "Uh, yeah, sure," She said a little breathlessly.

Liana smiled and unrolled the scroll on her bed. She quickly painted a symbol on the paper and piled all the magazines, including the one Haku handed back to her, on top of it. She did a couple hand seals that looked odd to the ice-user and placed her hands on either side of the magazines. In a poof of smoke, the magazines disappeared into the seal.

The green-haired girl roll the scroll back up and tossed it to Haku, who mumbled her thanks. The two then set off for the Arena, finding a seat close to the section where the head ninjas would sit just as the gong rang.

As they waited for the rest of the Monastery to file into the Arena, Liana turned towards Haku and asked, "So where are you originally from?"

"I was born in Mizu no Kuni on a small farm. I lived there for about five to six years before my father led a mob to the house and killed my mother. I then killed him and the mob using my bloodline limit." Haku said.

"What does it let you do?" Liana asked.

"I can manipulate water and turn it into ice, which I can also control." Haku explained. She then breathed into her hand, the mist condensing into a many-pointed star.

"Cool." Liana said, and then put a hand to her masked chin in thought. "You know, that sounds a lot like our cryomancers here at the Monastery. What was you mother's name?"

"Yes, I would like to know that too." A male voice suddenly spoke up from behind the two. The two girls turned around and saw Sub-Zero standing behind them with his ice arms crossed.

"Master Sub-Zero." Liana said.

Haku was silent for a moment before she answered Liana's question. "Her name was Kumiko Lilith."

"Hm." Sub-Zero grunted, "So you are her child after all."

Haku looked up at the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei as she asked, "Did you know her?"

"Know her? She was my half-sister." Sub-Zero said. Haku's mouth dropped before he continued, "I'd say about a couple months before you were born she had sent me a letter that she was about to give birth to a girl."

"Why didn't you come to get me then? Did you even know she had died?" Haku asked.

Sub-Zero shook his head. "I only found out she had died when she didn't send her annual six-month letter. By the time I got down there, you were already gone. But your ice spikes were still standing though." Sub-Zero explained. "If you want you can stay her now that you know." He offered.

Haku shook her head and said, "No thank you. As tempting as that is, I'm going to be going to Konoha with Naruto-kun."

"Naruto-kun?" Sub-Zero repeated, he looked over at Liana and said, "Looks like you got some competition."

Both Haku and Liana shook their heads and said at the same time, "I'm/She's a lesbian."

"Oh." Sub-Zero nodded his head to the two and left to go sit down.

After a while, the stands filled up and were full of chattering students of the Monastery. Suddenly, with a great creaking noise, one of the gates began lowering down into the ground. Once it had completely lowered, Naruto walked through and the girls noticed something that had not been on him when he had left the two for his room, a pair of kodachi in an 'x' on his back. The chattering died down as Sub-Zero stood up and walked to the edge of the head ninjas' seating area.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" He said, his voice somehow amplified, "You stand before us here today, so that you prove that you have earned the privilege of joining the Lin Kuei clan! Are you ready to face what lies ahead for you?"

Naruto simply nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment.

"Very well. To your left and right are two doors, each one has a challenge behind it. You need only complete one of the challenges and return here." Sub-Zero explained.

Naruto bowed and started walking to the left door. Before he could open it Sub-Zero's voice came once more.

"Know this Naruto-san! You are not permitted to use your elemental manipulation while undertaking the challenge." The Grandmaster said. Naruto paused for only a second, before he opened the door and stepped through.

Suddenly two large crystals rose up from the floor of the Arena. They glowed bright and a large image appeared in between the two crystals that showed Naruto looking around at his surroundings.

His test had begun…

**--- (End Chapter) ---**

**Unknown-nin345: Naruto's test has begun and his pairing has been revealed. If you want to get a good idea of what she looks like, get Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and go to the Kreate-a-Fighter section; then choose 'Bangs' for the hair, and 'Mandarin' for the shirt and cloth.**

**Please Read and Review**

**POWER TO THE CLIFFHANGERS!!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Unknown-nin345: Hi there and welcome to the fourth chapter of Fighter of the Elements. I would like to apologize once more to those readers who were hoping for Naruto and Haku to get together. I am being truthfully honest since that pairing is one of my more favorite pairings in the Naruto-verse.**

**I would also like to apologize to any female readers that might have been offended by what I wrote in the last chapter.**

**Finally, to those who are wondering what the deal is going to consist of, you aren't going to find out until Naruto has a flashback of the meeting during the Chunin Exams.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any names/abilities/clothing/quotes/weapons/jutsus/bloodline limits/characters from any other manga/anime/cartoon/comic/video games/movies/fanfictions.**

Naruto looked around at his surroundings with a grim face. He remembered back when he had seen another student go through what he was doing now. The student had chosen the same door Naruto just walked through and a creature out of the many that waited in the labyrinth had killed him. Actually, come to think of it, he had never seen any of the other students who had hoped to gain acceptance into the Lin Kuei clan ever use this door aside from the one he had seen killed.

The blonde shinobi noticed a plaque on the wall on his left and quickly moved over to read it.

_Enter stranger yet take heed, _

_Monsters wait along the way._

_Great renown is yours if you succeed,_

_But should you fail death is your pay._

_Resting in these walls is a sword,_

_Its blade rusted and hilt broken._

_Find this blade and speak a word,_

_To receive a great token._

Naruto looked up from the plague down the hallway. So he had to find a rusted sword with a broken hilt, that shouldn't be too hard, provided he isn't killed. Suddenly the blonde heard a growling coming from the end of the corridor and drew out his unique twin kodachi.

Naruto had forged these himself a couple years before his return to Konoha. However, unlike normal kodachi, which were straight, his were slightly curved like a scimitar. They also had several seals carved into the blades; one was to keep them from rusting, another was meant to keep them ever sharp, and the final was designed so that they would vibrate at great speeds which allowed the blades to be more effective in slashing, slicing, and piercing his enemies.

The blond slowly walked toward the end of the hallway, the growling increasing in volume as he neared the end of the corridor. Before he made the turn though, a large snow yeti launched itself from around the bend at the blond with a loud roar.

The blonde ducked under the wild swing of one of the yeti's arms, stepped forward, channeling his chakra into the seal on his blade that set it vibrating, and lopped off the yeti's arm. The beast was undeterred and whirled around in an attempt to hit its prey with its other arm, which was promptly severed from the yeti's body by the blonde's kodachi. Naruto didn't waste another second and quickly decapitated the snow beast. He then wiped the blood from his blades on the yeti's fur and walked away from the fallen beast.

Naruto continued making his way through the labyrinth, occasionally having to dispatch a yeti or a dire wolf. Despite his victories over the animals though, his nerves were kept on high alert since he still had not seen or heard the creature that he remembered had killed the last student who had entered the labyrinth. Even though it hadn't shown itself entirely, he could remember seeing the student being speared in the chest with a red bone-like arm that looked like it was wreathed in a moving shadow.

Soon, the blonde came to a wide-open chamber that had many crumbling pillars spread throughout it. Naruto slowed his pace as he entered the room, wary of anything that might leap out from behind one of the pillars. As he neared one of the many pillars in the room, a small indistinct voice began whispering in his head. When he rounded the pillar, the blonde saw a longsword that was floating in mid-air, as if there was an invisible stand holding it there. Naruto noticed that the blade was so rusty that there was absolutely no gleam coming from the blade and that the hilt was broken halfway from the guard.

"This must be the sword the plaque mentioned." Naruto murmured to himself as he sheathed his twin kodachi and walked closer to it, the whispering in his head growing louder with each step. When he grasped the hilt and pulled the sword from its suspended location, a bone-chilling unearthly shriek sounded throughout the labyrinth. Naruto clapped both his hands to his ears due to volume of the noise.

'_Speak my name. Release me.__' _A voice said within Naruto's head.

The blonde looked around and asked, "Who's there?"

'_Speak my name! Release me!__'_ The voice grew in intensity and another shriek wound its way through the hallways, this time sounding closer than before.

'_RELEASE ME!!__'_ The voice shouted as the owner of the shriek began to come into view.

Unbidden to Naruto's lips, came a word that he had never heard before, or had any clue as to its meaning, "Excalibur."

Naruto shielded his eyes with his free hand as the sword he was holding began glowing with a bright green light. When the blonde was able to see again, he studied the changes that had occurred in the blade.

The blade no longer looked like the longsword it had been. Instead, it had turned black with pulsing green lines running over it and looked like it had been carved from a rock. The hilt had reformed, lengthening to where he could comfortably wield it with either one hand or two and was as black as the blade. The blade itself now resembled a scimitar, but with a thin blade instead of a wide blade.

Naruto was brought from his musings by the shriek of the creature that had appeared just as the blade had transformed. If anything, it looked like a giant head with two long and gangly arms that had clawed fingers attached to it. It had piercing red eyes that glowed menacingly and looked to be made of a mixture shadow and flame. Oh, and did we mention its rushing full tilt at the blonde.

Out of desperation, the blonde swung the pulsing sword at the creature just before it reached him and watched as a crescent of bright green energy lanced out at the creature.

The crescent made contact with the creature and blasted it back a couple yards, crashing through a pillar in the process.

Naruto looked down at the sword in his hands and whispered, "Holy shit." He looked back up when he heard the creature regain its feet (or hands, as the case may be) and a savage grin spread on his face as he tightened his grip on the sword while shifting into a ready stance.

The creature shook its head from side to side before looked back over at Naruto. The creature took its time now, slowly coming forward like a predator stalking its prey. Naruto kept moving in small steps to keep it in front of him as he tensed his muscles in case it decided to charge.

And charge it did. The shadow-y creature rushed forward with a sound likened to the whistling of a heavy gust of wind. Naruto lashed out with the blade, sending the green crescent flying, which the creature dodged around and followed up with another swipe. The second wave managed to catch the creature in the middle of its leap and knock it back once more.

Naruto groaned in frustration when the creature quickly shot back up to its hands. It rushed in too fast for Naruto to get a good enough swing in, so the blonde tried a new tactic. He brutally stabbed the sword at the creature and a more precise blast of energy launched forward, blasting off one of the creature's arms at the shoulder in the process.

The creature screamed in pain and teleported a yard away before Naruto could stab at it again. Naruto was confused when the creature began to warily hop in a wide circle around him and didn't charge.

The reason became apparent when Naruto felt a searing pain along his back. The blonde instinctively arced his body and screamed his pain before he quickly grabbed the dismembered appendage that had just slashed his back and threw it over at the creature as he let loose another crescent that the creature ducked under.

Naruto panted even as he watched the creature reattach its arm and snarled once more at him. As the creature hissed and snarled while it prepared to spring, it occurred to Naruto that simply blasting it back like this wouldn't finish it off.

An idea quickly formed itself in the blonde's head just as the creature sprung. This time when the creature charged, he did nothing to stop it and shouted in pain when the creature picked him up before slamming him through one of the pillars followed by the wall. He yelled louder as the still bleeding gashes on his back were slammed against the hard stone.

Despite the pain he was currently experiencing, Naruto smirked at the creature holding him with blood dripping out of the corners of his mouth. The creature looked at him in confusion before it felt the blade the blonde had managed to keep a death grip on slice upward into its body followed by the blast of green energy. Naruto was dropped to the ground as the creature dispersed with another bone-chilling shriek that chilled his very soul.

Naruto sighed in relief and tenderly leaned back against the wall as he let his body rest. He turned his head to the side and spat out the small bit of blood that had accumulated in his mouth. Once that was done the blonde looked down at the sword he had recently acquired, the blade named Excalibur, and studied the green runes. There was power etched in them; that much he could tell just from looking at it.

Suddenly, a gold portal appeared from out of nowhere in front of Naruto. He looked up at it before slowly standing and walking towards it. The blonde stopped before passing through it though and looked around the labyrinth one last time. He then looked back at the portal and strode through it with his head held high.

--- (Back at the Arena) ---

Naruto found himself in the middle of the Arena back in the Monastery with the gigantic crystals sinking back into the ground, the gashes in his back already healed thanks to his healing factor. Standing in front of him was the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei clan, in his hands an orange-colored cryo mask.

"Congratulations Naruto. You have succeeded where many before you have failed, and you got a little something extra out of the experience as well," Sub-Zero said. He held out the cryo mask to Naruto as he continued, "Take it and wear it with honor for you now are a part of the Lin Kuei clan."

Naruto accepted the mask and placed it over his mouth, the special properties of the mask would ensure that it wouldn't fall down once he removed his hands. He then angled himself so that his left arm was closer to the Grandmaster.

Sub-Zero held up a small knife before he carved into the blonde's skin the Lin Kuei clan symbol. While the wound was still fresh the Grandmaster moved his palm close to the wound and began freezing it over. Once he was done, he held up the arm that just received the symbol and the students in the stands cheered at the induction of their new clan member.

After his arm was lowered, Naruto bowed to Sub-Zero and said, "Thank you Grandmaster. I will do my best to not let the clan down." Sub-Zero bowed back and Naruto walked out of the arena with Excalibur still clutched in his hand.

Once the blonde shinobi had walked for a while into the hallway, he stopped and leaned against one of the walls before he removed his cryo mask and attached it to his belt. He then looked at the sword in his hands while thinking of where he could put it. Suddenly, in a small puff of green smoke it vanished.

Naruto started in surprise and looked around wildly for a moment before he noticed a detailed tattoo of the sword on his right forearm. He calmed down and focused on the tattoo, after a couple seconds the sword appeared back in his right hand with a small puff of black smoke. Naruto focused this time on making it go away and the blade disappeared, the tattoo of it once more forming on his forearm.

"Sugoi," The blonde whispered to himself.

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto had barely looked up when Liana crashed into him, mashing her lips together with his. They stayed like that for a full minute before they pulled back from each other. When he was able to see his girlfriend's face, he noticed tear tracks running down her cheeks.

"You dumb baka," Liana muttered as she leaned her head on his chest. "Don't ever do that again, you could have been killed."

Naruto just slowly rubbed her back as he said, "Could have been, but I'm not…and I don't plan on dying for a long time." The two fell silent as they basked in the feeling of being there for each other as Haku arrived but, upon noticing the moment the two were sharing, waited around the corner.

"So," Naruto began, "when are you coming to Konoha?"

"Kaa-san talked it over with the Hokage and I'll be arriving with the team the Monastery is sending for the chunin exams a week before they start. In exchange for Konoha's alliance with us, I'm to become a shinobi of Konohagakure," Liana answered.

Naruto pulled back a little and looked down at her as he asked, "Really? They're letting the Monastery enter the exams?"

Liana nodded. "Officially we're the representatives for Yukigakure, since we are in Yuki no Kuni after all. Scorpion-sama is going to lead the team, which'll consist of a member from Kaa-san's clan, Saibot-sama's clan, and Reptile-sama's clan," She informed her boyfriend.

Naruto chuckled lightly, "Bet that's going to surprise a couple of people."

"Yeah," Liana softly agreed. The two leaned forward and once again kissed, this time tenderly, savoring each second their lips were connected.

When they pulled back Naruto leaned his forehead against Liana's and closed his eyes as he whispered, "Every day away from you has felt like a year. (He sighed) Kami-sama, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too. I can't wait until we can be together my love," Liana whispered back.

Around the corner, Haku smiled softly to herself as she listened to the two. Mentally, she was hoping that she might one day find someone with whom she could have a similar relationship.

Also listening in on the conversation were Liana's mothers: Kitana and Jade. Both of them were smiling underneath their masks, happy about the relationship their adopted daughter was a part of ... even if it was with a male.

Naruto opened his eyes and softly asked, "Can I get one for the road?"

Liana smiled gently. "Forever and always," She said and the two shared one last kiss. When it was over, the two reluctantly parted from each other.

"I love you," Naruto said.

"Love you too," Liana said back.

As she watched her love leave, Liana leaned against the wall and closed her eyes as she tried to keep tears from falling. Thankfully, her mothers walked up and assisted in the best way that mothers do: embarrass their child.

"Well, he's definitely a keeper," Kitana said as her and Jade walked up, Liana's eyes snapped open in embarrassment when she spotted her adoptive mothers.

"Oh, yes…and just imagine what he'll be like a couple years from now," Jade continued. She leaned onto her lover's shoulder and cried mock tears as she said, "Our little girl is growing up so fast."

Liana blushed lightly as she cried, "Kaa-san!" Both of the elder women simply laughed in response.

Back with Naruto; the blonde and Haku made their way out of the Monastery into the ever-snowing world of Yuki no Kuni. Once outside, the blonde channeled his chakra into the medallion that Sub-Zero had given him the day before while Haku laid her hand on the blonde's shoulder. Like before, golden rings surrounded the two before they joined into a column that disappeared in a small golden flash.

--- (Zabuza's grave) ---

In a golden flash, Naruto and Haku reappeared on the cliff where Zabuzas grave rested. Naruto slipped the medallion back into a vest pocket before he went over to the cliff and sat down on the edge, his legs dangling over the side as he stared out over the water. Haku silently followed the blonde's example and looked out over the water as well.

Naruto took the orange cryo mask off his belt and ran his finger over it as he muttered, "Just two more to go."

Haku looked over, having heard the mutter, and asked, "Until what?" After a moment of silence, Haku looked back over the water and said, "I'm sorry if I'm prying."

Naruto shook his head. "No, I don't mind. It's nice to be able to talk to someone who wants to listen." The blonde sighed and said, "In order to get my mother's sword I need to gain acceptance into three of the Ninja clans at the Monastery. So far, I've only gained acceptance into one of the clans." He chuckled before he continued, "It's funny, because the blade itself is just made of normal metal, but it's the sheath that's special. It has a Genjutsu on it that lets it constantly run through every color imaginable. Legend has it that the Sage of Six Paths applied the Genjutsu himself and gave the sword to the first Rasenkage's ancestor as a gift. Ever since Uzumakigakure has been around, the sword was handed from one Rasenkage to the next, ending with my Kaa-san."

"Wow," Haku said softly before she asked, "If you get it, are you going to use it in battle?"

A small smile appeared on Naruto's face as he answered, "Nah. I want to get it so I can give it to someone else." He glanced at Haku and playfully said, "And I'm not telling who that 'someone' is."

Haku smiled back and nodded at the tattoo of Excalibur on the blondes forearm. "So what's up with that sword?" She asked.

Naruto focused and Excalibur appeared in his hand with a poof of black smoke. "Its name is Excalibur. I don't know where it came from or what it can fully do. All I know is what you saw while I was taking the test. There's power in this sword, can you feel it?" He asked.

Haku nodded and said, "Yeah. It feels kind of like Winter's Fury does. Do you think it might change if you put some of your blood on it?"

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. When I first picked it up this voice, which I think came from Excalibur, was telling me to say its name and to release it. I think it's already in tune with me, so it probably won't change."

"Well let's find out," Haku urged. Naruto shrugged once more before he bit his thumb and ran the bleeding appendage along the black and green sword.

Nothing happened for a couple minutes before the blonde thought back to his experience in the labyrinth. He closed his eyes and tried to listen to any whispers that might be coming from the blade before he whispered a name that came to the forefront of his thoughts, "Mithrodin."

Bright sapphire flames spread out from Naruto's hand, consuming the blade. Naruto and Haku stared in amazement at the flames licking at the sword. Soon the flames died down, revealing the changed sword.

It was no longer black and green nor did it look like it was carved from a rock. The blade had changed to a mixture of titanium and steel; the hilt had lengthened to take up nearly half the whole length of the sword and curved slightly. A new addition appeared in the form of a pommel that looked like foxes head. Finally, the green lines that had lined the sword had changed color, now they were electric blue.

Naruto looked back at Haku and said, "I guess you were right."

Haku nodded with a smile before she asked, "Do you think its abilities are different now?"

"Only one way to find out," Naruto said as he stood up and walked toward a nearby clearing with Haku following along behind him.

When the two reached the clearing, Naruto closed his eyes in contemplation and began feeling out the energies of his sword. Suddenly, the blonde snapped his eyes open and swung Mithrodin as he focused on the wind element inside of him, as he did the blue lines turned silver. Nearly invisible to their eyes, a large crescent of wind launched forward and toppled a couple trees. A minute or two after the crescent had launched, the lines turned back to blue.

"Awesome," Naruto muttered with a wide grin, he then looked down at the blade and focused on his affinity with lightning; as he stared at it, the formerly blue lines turned yellow. When he swung it this time, several bolts of lightning shot forward and set a couple trees aflame.

"Oops," Naruto said; a little embarrassed at what he unintentionally did. Haku giggled lightly and froze the flames, turning them into solid blue versions of their normal appearance.

Naruto looked over at Haku and asked, "Want to have a little sword spar?"

"I don't know." Haku answered nervously. She glanced at her sword over her shoulder and said, "Zabuza-sama never gave me instruction in using a sword. I was only to be an assassin so I never really used anything outside of my sebon needles or my Kekkai Genkai."

Naruto scoffed and said, "If you continue to think like that then you never will."

Haku looked back at Naruto and asked, "What do you mean?"

Naruto held out Mithrodin, its glowing lines back to their electric-blue shade, while gesturing with his head at his twin kodachi as he said, "You can't use a sword anymore than you can use your hands or feet. No matter the type of weapon that you wield it is never simply an object, no matter how many like to think so; it is an extension of yourself. Even jutsus can be an extension of your body, some literally." He twirled the blade in his hands and held it up to his face and closed his eyes before he said, "One of my first lessons in fighting with a sword was neither how to hold it properly nor how to swing it right. In my first lesson, I was tasked with trying to find the…soul within the blade and learn to let it guide my hand when I could not."

The blonde opened his eyes and continued, "It took me a couple tries before I was able to call on the sword I was wielding at the time to aid me. It took Sub-Zero-sama rushing at me with a blade of his own in order for me to do it, but over time I learned how to call on any swords' aid of my own accord."

Haku drew her kriss sword from the holster on her back and held it uncertainly in her hands. She looked up at Naruto and asked, "Do I need to speak my sword's name?"

Naruto shook his head. "Just listen, it'll be easier since your sword isn't a normal one."

Haku nodded and closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed as she shut out everything but her sword, trying with all her might to listen for any whispers that might come from it. Suddenly, she felt her arms move on their own accord and dimly heard the clang of metal. She opened her eyes and saw that Naruto was standing in front of her with her kriss blade expertly blocking his sword.

"Keep listening," Was all Naruto said before he commenced with his assault.

Haku did as instructed and didn't think about the fight or how she was going to keep up with Naruto's attack; she just let her sword guide her actions. She noticed though, that Naruto didn't seem to be listening to his sword, he moved with the grace and skill of one who has trained many years to master their art. Five minutes into the spar, the black-haired girl found her arms growing tired from the constant fighting as well as growing numb from the many clashes of the blades.

Naruto noticed this and jumped back before he dismissed his sword. Haku sighed in relief as she sheathed her sword in the holster on her back.

Naruto smiled and said, "You did very well, Haku-chan. Not many people can last as long as you did when they first listen to their swords."

Haku smiled back. "Thanks, but my arms feel very sore now," She said, gesturing with both of the mentioned appendages.

Naruto shrugged. "You simply aren't used to kenjutsu. Just train and get used to the feel of fighting with a sword," The blonde offered. He then gestured down a nearby path, "Shall we head back to the old drunk's house?"

Haku nodded. "Sure, but on the way we should think up my cover story," She said as the two began to put their heads together to think up a feasible explanation for her appearance.

-- (Three days later) --

The four Konoha-nins, plus Haku, walked along the road back to Konoha.

Naruto and Haku had come with the idea that Haku would be an orphan that had lost her family to Gato. Naruto had 'found' her stumbling a little ways off from the bridge. The black-haired girl showed the blonde that she could access her chakra stores, but didn't know any jutsu outside the three basic ones (Bushin, Kawimari, & Henge). The blonde then offered her a place to live in Konoha.

The explanation earned the black-haired girl a tear-filled hug from Tsunami, who brought Haku up to her room when she learned that the girl's only possessions were the clothes she wore and the sword on her back. Tsunami gave Haku a couple items of clothing that she had kept from when she had been Haku's age that consisted of a pink crop top and black hip-hugging jeans, with both articles of clothing clinging to and showing off her body's every curve.

Sakura was immediately jealous when she saw that Haku's figure was infinitely better than hers (not a hard thing to accomplish) and warned her to keep away from Sasuke. Haku brushed her off by saying that she had no interest in any boys, only girls. The black-haired girl then left the stunned pinkette where she stood.

Sakura needn't have worried about Sasuke and Haku getting together anyway. The black-haired angsty boy regarded Haku with the same indifference he did with everyone else and rarely said more than a single word to her. He was more curious about Naruto's new appearance as well as the two curved kodachi that the blonde bore on his back; when he questioned Naruto about them though, all that Naruto would say was that he had brought them along incase things got a little hairy. Sasuke didn't give anymore obvious thought to it, except for asking Kakashi what type of sword might work well for him (after all, he couldn't let the dobe get too far ahead).

Naruto, meanwhile, kept himself busy at the bridge. He created a large group of Kage Bushins that managed to considerably cut down on the time needed to build the large structure. Kakashi would come out to the bridge at times to check on the progress and talk with Naruto. The white-haired cyclops informed the blonde that his teammates would patrol throughout the village in case some mercenaries attempted a sneak attack. Naruto simply nodded indifferently at the information. So, with the help of the blonde's clones, the bridge was completed within two days.

Now that they were away from the pressure of the mission, Sasuke and Sakura were determined to get more concrete answers. And since they were walking for Haku's benefit, they had plenty of time.

Sakura decided to go first, still believing that Naruto had a crush on her. "Naruto, where did you learn to use those kodachi?" She innocently asked.

Without looking back at her, Naruto answered, "In Konoha."

The pinkette softly growled in irritation as she corrected herself, "No, I meant: who from?"

"From various books and scrolls," The blonde replied, which was technically true since the Monastery did contain various books and scrolls that held detailed information on kenjutsu katas. "So, while I wouldn't be an expert at fighting with them, I think I might be able to take down a low- to mid-level chunin."

Since she had never seen the blonde fight with the swords, Sakura couldn't deny the confident words coming from Naruto. So she decided to switch topics.

"So, what's with the new look? Do you think you actually look cool like that?" The pink-haired girl asked.

"It's what the clan I'm a part of wears Sakura, expect my color is orange while the rest of theirs is blue," Naruto calmly explained.

Sasuke snorted and haughtily asked, "What clan? You're just a no-name orphan."

Only two of the other travelers were able to notice that Naruto trembled with pent-up rage for a split second at the Uchiha's words before he calmed down. He then turned his left side towards his teammates so that they could see the symbol carved into his skin.

"This clan," Naruto shortly said. He turned away from the two and walked closer to Haku, whom he began holding a whispered conversation with. At the back of the group Kakashi chuckled to himself, Naruto definitely wasn't making this easy on the other two members of Team 7.

Speaking of the other two members; both had decided to go back to simply ignoring Naruto. Sasuke with the deluded thinking that since _he_ had never heard of or seen the symbol before, whatever clan the dobe belonged to wasn't important. Sakura ignored the blonde because Sasuke was ignoring him.

-- (The Next Day) --

The giant gate looming up over the horizon was a welcome sight to the small, weary group. Even though they hadn't traveled back by tree-hopping they still made very good time since Haku wasn't a whiny old merchant.

Kakashi dismissed Sakura and Sasuke, telling them to get some well deserved rest and to meet at their training ground the day after tomorrow, and had the other two come with him. Soon they arrived at the Hokage's Tower and were promptly let in to see the Fire Shadow since he was only doing his paperwork.

The white-haired old man looked up from his current sheet of and noticed the leader of Team 7 standing there with a black-haired girl he didn't know and … "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled slightly and waved a little bit as he asked, "Yo Jii-san, still fighting the unwinnable battle against paperwork?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen asked, "Why do you look so different? I could have sworn you weren't attired as such when you left on the mission."

"I'll tell you Jii-san, but please put up some privacy seals. I don't want any unwanted eavesdroppers listening in," Naruto requested of the man he saw as a grandfather. After the aged leader had done so, Naruto told him about how he was brought to the Monastery and what he learned there. Then Kakashi and Naruto filled in the aged leader on the details of the mission.

When the two had finished the Sandaime sighed and said, "Well, I guess from now on we'll have to be a little bit more careful about the details surrounding missions. But now, on to other matters." He turned over to Haku and said, "From what these Kakashi-kun and Naruto-kun have said, you were trained by Momochi Zabuza before his death. Where would you say you rank in terms of skill?"

Haku shrugged and said, "I'm not really sure because Zabuza-tou-san never entered me into any ninja system. I know the three basic jutsu as well as my Hyouton techniques and I have more than just the two I displayed on the bridge. Zabuza-tou-san told me once that my stealth was at high chunin/low jounin level. I also have slight medical training and know about all the bodies', male and female, pressure points. My Taijutsu is at a mid-chunin level and I'm barely a beginner in Kenjutsu."

Sarutobi steepled his fingers and closed his eyes as he thought over this. After a while he nodded to himself and opened his eyes before he began speaking, "Very well then. Haku-chan, based on what you have told me I will be making you a chunin of Konohagakure. However, you will only be allowed to take low C-rank missions for two months and will not be allowed to leave the village except on said missions. Is that acceptable?"

Haku bowed. "It is Hokage-sama. Thank you very much for allowing this," She said as she straightened back up.

The Fire-Shadow smiled and reached into one of the drawers on his desk before he pulled out a scroll and unrolled it. He palmed one of the seals on it and a chunin vest along with a Konoha hitai-ate appeared in a puff of smoke. He handed them to Haku who tied the hitai-ate around her forehead and put on the vest, leaving it unzipped.

"Congratulations Haku-chan and welcome to Konohagakure," Sarutobi said to the black-haired girl.

Haku bowed once more and said, "Thank you Hokage-sama. Um, where would I stay though?"

"She can stay with me Jii-san," Naruto put in.

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at Naruto and asked, "Are you sure about that Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded in response. "Absolutely Jii-san, it's the least I could do after all," He said as he looked over at the black-haired girl with a smile.

Haku smiled back and said, "Arigatou Naruto-kun."

"All right then," Sarutobi said. "Haku-chan, I'd like you to come back in the day after tomorrow so I can get your shinobi license set up, okay?"

"As you wish Hokage-sama," Haku replied.

The three were about to leave when Sarutobi said, "Naruto, wait a minute please." The blonde turned back to the Hokage, who pulled a scroll out of a different drawer in his desk and tossed it to Naruto who in turn caught it.

Naruto looked at in confusion before he asked, "What is this supposed to be?"

"It's a scroll that contains details on how to perform one of the jutsus your father created, you will need to put a drop of your blood on it in order for it to open," The old man informed the young boy.

Naruto grinned and bowed, "Thanks Jii-san." With the scroll in hand he turned and exited the door as he said, "C'mon Haku-chan, I'll show you around Konoha. You're gonna love it here."

As the voices faded away, Sarutobi chuckled to himself and looked over at the picture of his deceased successor. _'Soon, I will let him know who you are. Soon.'_

**End Chapter**

**Unknown-nin345: Sorry about the big break from the last chapter, I just stuck on a snag and had trouble writing past it. Next chapter, we meet Haku's pairing and Naruto's 'as-good-as' older sisters.**

**I hope you like the little fluffy moment between Naruto and Liana.**

**Hooray for fluffiness!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Unknown-nin345: Sorry for the long pause between chapters, I came up with some new stories and some of my older ones fell to the wayside.**

**WARNING: There will be a lime and other m-rated moments! The Start and End of the lime will be marked by a **.**

**-------(The Next Morning(from the end of the last chapter))----------**

On the steps leading up to Naruto's apartment climbed a midnight-blue haired girl with pearl-like lavender eyes who was wearing a bulky cream jacket and form-fitting purple pants. Outside the door leading to the blonde's apartment she paused and looked around her before she placed a single finger on the doorknob and channeled a little bit of chakra into it. A couple seconds passed before the lavender-eyed girl heard a near silent 'click' come from the doorknob and promptly stepped into the apartment.

Once inside she took off her bulky jacket, revealing the purple, v-neck tank top she wore that was pulled taut across her perky b-cup breasts and her toned stomach that hinted the girl did plenty of physical exercise, and hung it up on a nearby coat rack. A silver ten-pointed star pendant, with a small stone of amethyst set in the middle, hung around her neck just below her hitai-ate. She then reached up to her midnight-blue hair and pulled off the wig she wore to fool those she didn't wish to know and let fall hair that came down to the bottom of her shoulder blades. She deftly pulled most of it back into a low ponytail but left a bang free to frame the right side of her face.

She looked around and was just about to shout when she caught the sound of female's voice coming from the bathroom. Instinctively, the petite girl formed a handseal to activate her kekkai genkai: The Byakugan. Veins stood out around her eyes as she turned her eyesight to the wall that separated the hallway from the bathroom. After a couple seconds her vision penetrated the wall and she softly gasped at the sight that met her eyes.

There was a black-haired girl standing underneath the shower and the lavender-eyed voyeur silently marveled at how the water seemed to glide over the girl's alabaster skin. The midnight-blue haired girl felt reaction stirring in her crotch when the showering girl turned and revealed her pink nipples while her other hand teasingly kept her nether lips covered.

Naruto exited the kitchen at this moment and noticed the girl standing in his hallway. "Hinata-chan! I didn't hear you…Hinata-chan?" he asked when he noticed that Hinata wasn't reacting to his words and followed her gaze to the where she was staring before a smirk formed on his face as he guessed what had the Hyuuga Heiress's attention.

With the smirk still in place he leaned in close to Hinata and accusingly asked, "Peeping Hinata-chan?" This served to break the lavender-eyed girl out of her unresponsive stated; she looked at Naruto and then the floor as a light red blush spread across her cheeks. "What would Anko-nee say if she knew?"

A smile formed on Hinata's lips as she looked up at Naruto and answered, "She'd tell me that I should take a picture and masturbate to it at night."

Naruto chuckled and rubbed his chin, "Heh, she would wouldn't she?" The two then embraced in a sibling-esque manner. The two separated as Naruto asked, "So, what are you doing here? Besides playing the part of a voyeur of course."

Hinata huffed playfully at Naruto before she said, "If you must know, I came over here to find out how your C-rank mission went." She looked him over, taking in his shirtless, sweatpants wearing state along with his muscles that rippled and drew taut with every subtle movement, and her lips quirked as she said, "And I guess you decided to not only get rid of your disguise but you became an exhibitionist while you were at it."

"Hey! Anko-nee is the exhibitionist here, this is my apartment so I can walk around naked if I want to," Naruto defended himself, "And I will if you don't stop making fun of me."

One of Hinata's eyebrows raised in amusement as she jerked her head to where Haku was still singing in the shower as she asked, "What about that girl in the shower? Is she your mystery girlfriend from the Monastery or are you making your own harem? If so; should you really be waving 'Naruto Jr.' out in the open?"  
Naruto smiled enigmatically back as the sounds in the shower ceased, "Oh, I don't think I'll have to worry about that."

The door to the bathroom suddenly opened and there stood a completely nude, soaking wet Haku with her black hair plastered to her alabaster skin. Two bangs of hair came to teasingly cover her erect nipples while her shaved pussy was uncovered and bare. Upon noticing the other female in the immediate vicinity, Haku froze as a bright-red blush threatened to spread over her normally white skin and her uncovered pussy remained forgotten by the ice-user.

Hinata too was frozen as both girls eyes trailed over the others' bodies, both gaining small nosebleeds the longer they looked (Yep, Hinata is a lesbian, sorry to you Naru/Hina folks), while an amused Naruto left for the kitchen. Both of the girls were stuck in a trance, a herd of savage bulls could have run past and they wouldn't have noticed, until Naruto threw a towel from the kitchen to Haku.

The two finally snapped out of their trances and Haku wrapped the towel around her still wet body and headed to the only bedroom in the apartment while Hinata headed into the kitchen. When she entered, she noticed Naruto leaning against the counter with an amused smirk on his face with his head tilted slightly to the side.

She opened her mouth to say something, but noticed the tattoo of a sword on his forearm as well as the Lin Kuei tattoo on his left shoulder and asked, "When did you get those tattoos? I'm pretty sure you didn't have them before you left."

Naruto looked at both before looking back up at her. "Well, one is not an actual tattoo Hinata-chan. Let me show you," he said right before Mithrodin appeared in a puff of black smoke, the tattoo on his arm vanishing. He twirled the sword with a flourish before it disappeared in a puff of green smoke and the tattoo reappeared on his forearm. "The sword is called Mithrodin and I've found that I can channel my elemental powers through it. Whenever I want to use it, it appears like you saw, and when I don't it goes back to being a tattoo on my forearm."

"And the other one?" the lavender-eyed girl asked.

Naruto smiled widely as he said, "It is proof that I've been accepted into the Lin Kuei clan. Now I've only got two more to go and I'll earn my Kaa-san's sword."

"Are you still planning on giving it to Liana-san?" Hinata asked with a small smile.

"So that's who you're giving it to!" Haku shouted from the doorway of the kitchen. She was wearing some of the clothes Naruto had bought for her the previous day. Right now she was garbed in a light blue halter top with her unzipped chunin vest above that. Covering to the middle of her thighs was a black miniskirt that had small snowflake designs across it with and black spandex shorts underneath. Draped around her neck was her Konoha hitai-ate while her long black hair flowed down her back. She also had a slightly thick belt draped across her hips that held a medical pouch as well as her kunai/shuriken holster and two holsters for her sebon needles above her left butt cheek.

Hinata blushed lightly when she saw what Haku was attired in while Naruto rolled his eyes and glared lightly at Hinata. "Thanks a lot Hinata-chan. It's not like it was supposed to be a secret or anything," he muttered to the lavender-eyed girl. Said girl just playfully stuck her tongue out at the blonde-haired boy.

Naruto shook his head in amusement at the Hyuuga Heiress's behavior before he said, "Anyway. Yes Haku-chan, I am planning on giving my kaa-san's sword to Liana-hime once I earn it, but until then please don't tell her." Haku nodded, getting a thankful nod from the blonde shinobi. "Now then, do you two want something to eat?" Both girls nodded and sat down at the table while Naruto poured them each a drink and then prepared some food for breakfast.

After a minute or so of silence Haku looked over at Naruto and asked, "Naruto-kun, there's something I've been wondering ever since I first met your team while over in Nami."

"What's that Haku-chan?" Naruto asked as he continued his preparations.

"Well, you know how my kekkai genkai lets me control water and ice right?" she asked, when the blonde chef nodded she continued, "I can also sense nearby water sources up to a certain distance away and I was wondering why Sakura had two pouches of water attached to her chest?" Hinata spat out the sip of the drink she had just taken and joined Naruto in laughing uproariously. Haku looked at both curiously as she asked, "What's so funny?"

It was Hinata who answered while Naruto still laughed as he cooked breakfast, "You see Haku-chan, Sakura has the flattest, smallest breasts a girl her age can possibly have. They're just big enough to classify as boobs but still too small for a bra, so she used chest wraps as a substitute, right up to our graduation day at the Konoha Academy. Hearing what you just asked confirmed for me that she's been using a special type of water balloon to make it seem like she's got small B-cups ever since then."

"It certainly explains why her chest is so bouncy," Naruto spoke up from the stove, his laughter having dissolved into short snickers every now and then.

Haku eyed Hinata curiously and asked, "How did you know she was wearing chest wraps?"

The midnight-blue haired girl blushed a little. "Back in the academy I would sometimes use my Byakugan to peek through all of the girls clothing. That was the reason why I would usually have a blush during class. By the last year I had advanced my kekkai genkai enough to see through walls which let me see other girls' bodies as well as the few kunoichi teachers and some of what I saw would cause me to faint from time to time," she explained as Haku blushed when she realized that Hinata could also see through her clothing as well.

"Say, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, as if realizing something that he should have realized a long time ago, from the stove, "If you could see through clothing then you should know which of us boys had the biggest dicks also right?"

Hinata nodded as she answered, "Yes, but I preferred looking at the other girls since, aside from the Uchiha's fangirls, they didn't constantly lust over the opposite sex, like you boys usually did."

"So which of us boys had the biggest dick?" The shirtless blonde asked, ignoring the verbal jab.

"In terms of sheer girth, Chouji had the biggest but his only went to four and a half inches. Shikamaru was four and a half as well, but his was the thinnest there. Shino-san and Kiba were tied at around five inches but Shino-san's girth was just a little bit bigger than Kiba's. Your clone was the longest Naruto-kun, he came up to seven inches and his girth was just a little bit smaller than Chouji's," Hinata calmly said as if she were discussing the weather. "Of course, that means I don't know how big you get when you have an erection."

"Well, I'm sorry Hinata-chan, but I only plan on one woman knowing how big my buddy gets." Naruto was sporting a proud grin as he asked, "What about Ahiru-oshiri-san's?" The two girls looked confused so Naruto said, "Sasuke." Understanding lit up the two girls' faces as they giggled lightly.

Hinata paused in her giggles as she said, "He barely even reached an inch (insert snort from Naruto) and it looked like he never had an erotic thought whatsoever. But like I said, I preferred looking at the other girls, aside from Sasuke's fangirls, or following your clone whenever it went to practice on the Oiroke no Jutsu."

"What is the Oiroke no Jutsu Naruto-kun? You mentioned it during your explanation to Hatake-san, but what does it do?" Haku asked as she looked over at him with Hinata mimicking her.

Naruto loaded up the prepared food onto three plates before he looked over his shoulder at Haku and said, "It would be easier if I showed you." With that, he formed a handseal and was concealed by a thick could of smoke. The two girls saw the sweatpants Naruto had been wearing fall to the floor as the smoke dispersed and were rewarded with the sight of, now female, Naruto's tanned, round ass as the boy-turned-smoking-hot-girl bent over and reached down to pull up her pants and in the process, gifted the two slightly drooling lesbians with the sight of her pussy.

The blonde-haired girl then pulled up her pants and pulled the strings that tightened them before she expertly grabbed the three plates, lightly pressing her ample breasts together, and turned around to bring the food to the table. The topless girl set the plates on the table and sat down, watching with amusement as the other two girls followed her breasts every movement.

**Naruto let out a cross between a surprised squeak and a pleasure-filled moan when Haku as well as Hinata quickly reached over and pinched both of the blonde's hardened nipples. Her moans continued as both girls curiously let their hands roam all over the blonde's tan supple breasts and gave a couple experimenting squeezes here and there, with each squeeze drawing out louder moans from the helpless girl. Naruto felt a pressure begin to build up in her stomach when both Hinata and Haku silently withdrew theirs hands from Naruto's breasts, leaving the blonde feeling very hot, panting, and frustrated.**

"They're…real," Haku whispered with Hinata slowly nodding her head in agreement while Naruto panted heavily with small beads of sweat rolling down her flushed face and heaving breasts, her dark pink nipples still hardened and demanding attention. Naruto changed back to his male form and both girls watched in silence as he made his way from the kitchen with an erection pitching a tent in his sweatpants.

The two girls looked at each other and giggled when they realized what the blonde might be going to do and began eating the food that Naruto had made and making small talk. When Naruto came back, he had changed into a pair of baggy black pants and a black muscle shirt, and definitely seemed like a weight had been lifted off of him. He sat down at the table with a small glare at the two slightly giggling girls.

"I'm going to get you two back for that, I'm not sure how yet but I will get you back," he promised.

Hinata smirked as she did her best to channel the teasing spirit of one of her pseudo-older sisters. "Aw, didn't you _enjoy_ it Naruto-_chan_?" she sultrily asked and made a sensual show of swallowing a bite of her food that got Haku blushing lightly. "Because from all those _sexy_ moans you were making it sounded like you enjoyed it _very much_. If you ask nicely, I'm sure Haku-chan and I can give you a more _thorough_ experience later." By now, Haku's blush had darkened and a small bit of blood dripped out of her nose. Naruto was only slightly better off with only a light blush decorating his cheeks.

The only male at the table decided that discretion was the better part of valor and gave up the verbal joust as he went back to his food with a muttered, "Whatever". Hinata gave the victory sign to a giggling Haku as all three finished off their breakfast.

Once Naruto had placed the dishes in the sink, Hinata's face lit up in remembrance, "Oh, Naruto-kun. Yesterday Anko-nee and Kure-nee told me to tell you that they had something to tell you. That was why I had come over in the first place, but with…everything that happened I had forgotten about it until now."

Naruto turned back to her and asked, "Really? What's it about?"

"It's a surprise," Hinata simply said with a small smirk tugging at her lips.

The blonde rolled his eyes and made his way to the door with Hinata and Haku standing up and following him. "Well, might as well go see what they want," he said as he exited his apartment. Haku was surprised when Naruto turned right and walked over to the next door. Naruto knocked on the door in an odd pattern and the black-haired girl received yet another of the many surprises she experienced that morning.

An extremely voluptuous purple-haired, brown-eyed woman wearing a mesh bodysuit (that did nothing to hide her pink nipples and rosy vagina from view) leapt from the door and wrapped Naruto and Hinata and tight hug with both of the teens' faces being pressed up against her barely covered C-cup breasts. The barely-clothed woman's name was Mitarashi Anko, the sexy snake seductress of Konoha.

Anko pulled back a bit and watched with amusement as both teens wiped a small trickle of blood from their noses. "It's good to see you two," she said with a smile. Then her attention shifted to the other girl standing nearby. "And who is this?" she asked, and then looked down at Naruto with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, "Planning on forming a little harem Naruto-chan?"

The blonde-haired boy rolled his eyes as he answered, "First Hinata and now you. I swear; it's like Pick on Naruto Day or something. Not to mention what these two did to me earlier," he finished with a gesture and scowl to the two girls.

"Oh really? Do tell," The purple-haired woman said with an interested gleam in her murky-brown eyes.

A smirk stretched across Hinata's lips as she answered, "Well, me and Haku-chan here managed to talk Naruto-kun into showing us his Oiroke no Jutsu while he was making us breakfast. Before we started eating Haku-chan and I were curious about whether or not Naruto-chan's breasts were real so we reached over and began playing with them. We stopped and withdrew our hands just as Naruto-chan looked to be on the verge of having what might have been her first female orgasm. Naruto-chan then changed back to his male form and left the kitchen." She giggled at this point while Naruto chose to hide his face in his hands. "When he came back he had changed his clothes and looked like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders." In between the two giggling girls, Naruto was still trying to see just how far his head could be buried into his palms.

Anko, meanwhile, threw her head back and laughed, making her round breasts bounce up and down impressively, before she clapped a hand on both of the girls' shoulders as she said, "That's very impressive you two. Usually Nai-hime has to go full-out oral on me to get me to scream her name in ecstasy to the heavens. Then I break out a dildo while going to town on her perky nipples." Her blunt statements sent all three of the teens blushing bright red. Anko stepped into the doorway and said, "Why don't you come on in? Naruto-kun can tell us about his mission. Word in the grapevine has it that the mission was upgraded to an A-rank." They followed her mesh-clad body into the apartment as Anko led them to the living room where sitting on the couch was the purple-haired woman's lover, Yuuhi Kurenai.

The red-eyed, raven-haired beauty was wearing only a red and black bathrobe that she left completely open to bare her full D-cup breasts (with small bright-pink perky nipples) and her nether lips to those gathered. Anko wasted little time and immediately made her way over to her lover who she proceeded to passionately make-out with, while her hands shamelessly played with Kurenai's breasts and Kurenai's hands were rubbing Anko's ass. The three teens tried to avert their eyes but always found them wandering back to the shameless couple on the couch.

After a minute of tongue tasting, Anko broke the kiss and sat down next to Kurenai as she wrapped an arm around her lover. "Alright, now that I've momentarily satisfied my hormones, let's hear that story Naruto-chan," Anko said as the three teens seated themselves in the other chairs scattered around the living room.

Naruto, after throwing a random sake bottle to the side, launched into his tale of what occurred on the mission with Haku giving a bit of input from time to time. He told then told them about what occurred at the Monastery and showed the women on the couch his sword. When the blonde finished the tale with what had occurred earlier in the kitchen, Anko let out a long whistle.

"That's quite the story Naruto-chan," the purple-haired woman said.

Kurenai nodded her agreement, "Yeah. Most genin don't get a chance at a mission like that until they're at least high-chunin level."

"So what kind of mission would we be getting Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata asked her teacher.

"Most likely just missions to track down a single rouge bandit or something like that since we're a reconnaissance and tracker team," the red-eyed woman said. "However, since Naruto-chan's team is an assault team, they sometimes get missions that require them to be bodyguards for a client." Naruto nodded his agreement since Kakashi had said something similar after the attack by the Demon Brothers.

The blonde then remembered why he had led Hinata and Haku over here and asked, "So what was it that you two wanted to tell me? Hinata-chan wouldn't tell me what it was, so now I'm asking you."

Anko smiled widely and squeezed Kurenai closer to her as she said, "Well, finally after a couple years of waiting, Hokage-sama has finally found a female priest." When Naruto didn't react, the purple-haired woman shouted, "Nai-hime and I are finally getting married!"

Naruto's smile matched Anko's as he got up and hugged his as-good-as older sisters. "That's great! But why would you need a female priest?" he asked as he pulled back from the hug.

"It's all because of the theme for our wedding Naruto-chan," Kurenai said. When she saw Haku and Naruto look at her in slight confusion she said, "It's going to be a female-only nude wedding."

"Wait, so that means--" Naruto started.

Anko nodded and picked up the statement, "That means you're going to be attending in your Oiroke no Jutsu form and that you'll get the chance to see a bunch of women naked."

Naruto palmed his face and was just about to say something when he noticed Hinata did not seem surprised by this. "When did you tell Hinata-chan?" he asked.

"The day after you had gone on your mission," Kurenai said. "So, are you going to come?"

Naruto sighed and sat down as he asked, "Who's going to be there?"

Anko tapped her chin in thought as she said, "You, Hinata-chan, Hana-chan, Yugao-chan, Ayame-chan, Tsume-sempai, and Haku-chan can come if she wants to."

Haku bore a surprised look as she asked, "Are you serious Anko-san? I mean, you just met me after all."

Kurenai nodded and answered, "We're sure Haku-chan. Naruto-chan here is a good judge of character and if he trusts you then we'll trust you. Besides, from what Hinata-chan just told us what you and her did to Naruto-chan then shouldn't you be jumping at the chance to see a bunch of naked sexy women?"

While Haku nodded with a small blush at the question, Hinata stood up and said, "I think I'm going to get some tea. Anybody else want any?" As everybody gave their answers, the lavender-eyed girl shot a pointed look at Kurenai. The red-eyed woman stood, making no move to close her robe, said that she was going to help Hinata with the tea.

Once in the kitchen, Hinata looked at her sensei and asked, "What am I going to do about 'it'? I haven't told Haku-chan about 'it' yet and I'm worried about how she might react."

Kurenai just smiled softly and laid a comforting hand on the busty teen's shoulder as she said, "If from what I've seen so far about Haku-chan is correct, then you're worrying over nothing." Seeing Hinata's still-concerned look, the red-eyed woman reached into one of her robe pockets and pulled out a small slip of paper that had an odd design painted onto it. "This will help hide what you want hidden. Just be sure to constantly channel a small amount of chakra to it."

Hinata accepted the slip of paper and hugged her surrogate older sister. "Thanks Nee-chan," she softly whispered. Kurenai said nothing as she returned the hug.

**-- (Timeskip: 1 week before the Chunin Exams) --**

Naruto anxiously rocked back and forth on his heels as he waited for a certain team to arrive. As he stood there, he reflected on the events from when he arrived back at Konoha until where he currently stood.

The wedding had gone off without a hitch, although Hinata and Haku suffered deep red blushes and slight nosebleeds for the rest of the week at the sight of all the nude females moving so casually about and hugging each other without a care in the world. On that day, the two girls learned that the ramen waitress had the biggest breasts either of them had ever seen, double d-cups (they both knew that they'd never be able to look at her the same way again). The teen lesbians had nearly fainted when Ayame gave both of them a friendly hug, and since both of the girls were shorter than Ayame, their faces ended up pressed against her well-endowed chest.

As soon as Anko and Kurenai had been bound together in holy wedlock, Naruto and Yugao pulled cans of whipped cream from out of…somewhere and proceeded to spray the two newlyweds. Ayame and Hana pulled out bottles of chocolate syrup and poured the syrup all over the two still on the alter. After the two women were sufficiently covered, Naruto stuck a sign into the ground that had an arrow on it that pointed at the two and said: 'Kunoichi Sundae-cherry not included'.

Everybody had busted out laughing at the implied message in the sign while Naruto took a couple pictures for blackmailing purposes. After giving the blonde a sufficient beat-down and making sure that Naruto gave up the camera, Anko and Kurenai went off to consummate their marriage.

Other than that, it had been pretty dull for Naruto. Kakashi had decided to go back to D-rank missions, but on the plus side he had also decided to begin training them for real now. The first couple days had been used simply to discover a taijutsu style that could best them. After that, they went on to discover the three genins' elemental affinities.

Sasuke had fire as his main affinity with a minor lightning affinity, as pointed out by his blackened and crumpled card. Thus, the silver-haired scarecrow decided to teach him a couple C-rank Katon and Raiton jutsus; Katon: Housenka no Jutsu, Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu, Ration: Dagekinami no Jutsu.

Sakura had been given a couple genjutsus since her affinity card turned up blank. Kakashi assured her that this was normal for someone their age since elemental affinities usually developed a year or so after heavy use of one's chakra like what genin would face with their C-rank missions. The pinkette learned them quickly since they didn't demand a large drain on her chakra stores; she only needed a good amount of control (which she had in spades because of her low chakra levels).

Naruto's affinity card was no surprise to Kakashi since he had seen the blonde in action while on the bridge, Sasuke and Sakura, though, were when they saw his card split in half and then both halves crumple while turning black at the edge. Kakashi explained that both wind and lightning were excellent for those who preferred close quarters combat since wind could cut and slash your foe silently, while lightning could stun your opponent long enough to get the killing blow in.

As a result, Kakashi gave Naruto a scroll that listed all of his wind and lightning jutsus since he didn't have much of either and he rarely ever really used them. When Sasuke and Sakura noticed some of the rankings for the techniques they asked their sensei why he was giving Naruto such high level techniques. The silver-haired cyclops lightly explained that, in terms of sheer raw power, Naruto's chakra stores were close to that of a low- to mid-level jounin and that because that reason, Naruto's chakra control was not as good as Sakura, whose chakra was small so that she could control it better. Thus, until he got better control, Naruto would be best suited for techniques that didn't need a whole lot of control to use them.

The other two genin accepted the explanation and all three went on with their training; Naruto also working on the technique in the scroll given to him by the Sandaime. Of course, earlier this morning, the three had been surprised when they found Kakashi waiting at the bridge saying that he had surprise for them. The surprise turned out to be that he had nominated them for the Chunin Exams; his reasoning being if that they could complete an A-rank mission then they deserved to be chunin.

So now, here the blonde was waiting for the team from the Monastery, and most importantly Liana, to arrive. He was just about to head to Ichiraku's for some lunch when he caught sight of five figures approaching. Naruto straightened up and waited for the figures to draw closer. The two he was able to recognize immediately were Liana, who was wearing a sea-green version of Kitana's outfit (MK Vs. DC game outfit) with her knives in their resting place on her calves, and Scorpion; the other three he gave a once over to familiarize himself with them.

The girl on the team obviously came from Kitana's clan, if the miniature fans attached to the belt she was wearing were any evidence. Her pitch black hair was short and only went down to her shoulders with a strand or two falling down into her metallic green eyes. A black mask covered the lower part of her face while a hitai-ate bearing the symbol of a dragon's head rested around her neck. She was wearing a black corset that had white skulls painted onto it and only went halfway up her breasts, leaving her shoulders bare while a pair of shorts covered her legs down to her knees where they met a pair of leather boots.

The next one Naruto looked over had a black cloth wrapped over the majority of his head, only leaving a slot open for his eyes and mouth, with the metal plate that bore the insignia of the dragon's head attached to the wrap directly above his eyes. He was wearing an acid-green tanktop with his arms covered by a black wrapping while loose, dark-green kung fu pants covered his legs. Two kusarigama hung on his hips; the blades each sported a jagged, serrated edge.

The final member was garbed in the traditional all-black, with a metal face-mask (where the dragon hitai-ate was located) and hood along with glowing neon-blue eyes, of Noob Saibot's shadow clan. On his back rested two plain Chinese broadswords with little red handkerchiefs connected to the hilts.

Naruto bowed to the last of the Shinrai-ryu clan and said, "Welcome Master Scorpion to Konohagakure. If you head to the large tower with the giant 'Ho' kanji on it, you'll be able to meet with the Hokage." Scorpion just nodded and motioned for his team to follow him into the village while Liana remained behind, her eyes running over Naruto who was wearing the same clothing she had last seen him in along with his orange cryo mask and quite frankly, the sight was causing some R-rated thoughts to run through her head involving the blonde.

As soon as the team from the Monastery was out of sight, Liana launched herself at Naruto and both managed to somehow remove their respective facemasks in time for their lips to meet while hands roamed. Liana lifted her legs up and wrapped them around the blonde's waist while Naruto's hands moved down to, and began caressing, Liana's butt. The two separated and stared into each other's eyes, each with a content smile and light blush on their cheeks.

Liana's smile turned to a smirk as she wiggled her butt slightly. "You're the only one I'd ever allow to touch my ass Naruto-kun," she said softly with a small moan at the end.

"Then I'm the luckiest man in the world Liana-hime," Naruto replied as he lightly squeezed, drawing a louder moan from the green-eyed girl. The connected their lips for another kiss with Liana unwrapping her legs and regaining her feet. The two separated once more and held hands as they walked into the village.

The two went to see the Hokage who, after learning of Liana's skills, instated the green-haired girl at the rank of chunin. Liana accepted the chunin vest after making a little modification to it; she had Naruto slice off a portion of the vest so that it only went down to the top of her abdomen. Immediately after that Naruto had begged the Sandaime for another C-rank mission, stating that he himself was definitely chunin level and that Liana could come with him as an 'initiation mission'.

Sarutobi Hiruzen thought on that for a moment before he called in his secretary and asked her to summon Momochi Haku. The aged leader turned back to the two standing in his office and said, "I'll allow you to go on this C-rank mission. But after how your last one turned out Naruto-kun, I'll feel better if you're accompanied by both Liana-san and Haku-chan. Once Haku-chan gets here, I'll explain the mission parameters."

They waited in silence for a couple of minutes before Haku walked in (garbed in her shinobi gear with her repaired mask hanging on her belt) and bowed as she asked, "You summoned me Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, please come in Haku-chan." The black-haired girl did so, and upon noticing Liana, smiled and gave the green-eyed girl a hug. After the two separated the Sandaime began speaking, "Very well then. The C-rank mission I'll be assigning to you three shall be a fairly simple one." He pulled a file out of a nearby stack and skimmed it over quickly to make sure it was the right one. "You three will be escorting a small merchant family to a nearby village. Since they are a merchant family, there might be a possible threat of a bandit attack. I'm confident that between the three of you, any possible attack will be suitably repelled." He pushed a button on his intercom, "Please send in the client for C-rank mission…314 please."

After a couple of minutes, a nondescript brown-haired man with wire-rimmed glasses entered the office. He looked at the three ninja arrayed before the Hokage and nodded, "You all look definitely capable. Thank you for escorting my family back to our home village. When would you three be ready to leave?"

The two chunin and one genin looked at each other before Naruto asked, "Do you have a specific time frame to get back to your village?"

The man rubbed the back of his head nervously, "Somewhat. You see, my wife is pregnant and we're hoping to get back to our village before the baby decides to come into this world. It's not that my wife distrusts the staff at the Konoha hospital, she just wants her child to be born in our home village."

"Does two o'clock sound good for you sir?" Haku asked.

The client nodded, "Yes that sounds fine. I'll get everyone else ready to leave and we'll meet you at the western gate." He bowed slightly. "Thank you once again for accepting the mission." With that, he left to go gather his family.

Naruto smiled lightly and turned back to the man his saw as his grandfather, "Well he was certainly more polite than that old drunk."

The third Fire-Shadow nodded with a smile of his own, "Not all clients are like Tazuna-san Naruto-kun. Now, good luck and be careful. I'll see you when you get back." The three teens bowed and exited the room to get ready for their mission.

After introducing Liana to Anko, Kurenai, and Hinata, the three went to grab a quick lunch at Ichiraku's (where Haku learned that Ayame's waitress uniform did absolutely nothing to compliment her figure). Ayame quickly bonded with Liana, and both quickly began to trade embarrassing stories about Naruto, causing Naruto to blush while the three women giggled. Said blonde shinobi was very glad when it was time for them to leave, although Liana promised to come back to trade more stories with the ramen waitress.

Naruto, Haku, and Liana arrived at the gate and found their client waiting for them. He was standing next to a horse-drawn wagon with a smaller wagon hooked up behind it.

The man looked up as they arrived and nodded in greeting. "If you're ready, we will head out now," he said. A moan from the wagon drew the three shinobi's attention and the client explained, "That's my wife. The baby has been kicking something fierce lately, that's why I want to get back home quickly since we're unsure when she'll go into labor."

Liana stepped forward, "Don't worry sir. We'll make sure that you make back to your home. If you'll get into your wagon, we can get moving right away." The man nodded and hopped up into where the driver of the wagon sits before he cracked the reins to get the horses pulling the wagons moving.

They made exceptionally good time, only stopping every now and then to allow the horses some time to rest and were halfway to the town by sunset. The three shinobi became acquainted with expecting mother as they walked, and each got to feel the pregnant woman's swollen belly. After Naruto and Liana had both felt the woman's stomach, the blonde wrapped his arms around his love while she leaned back into his embrace as they walked while whispering to each other. Haku found herself looking on in a small amount of envy and picturing her and a certain Hyuuga heiress in a similar position (admittedly with less clothing).

Trouble finally struck at sunset. A group of bandits came charging out of the trees on either side of the wagon. The three shinobi leapt into action while the client pulled out a bow and a quiver full of arrows from behind his seat in the wagon and began firing into the mob of bandits. The bandits wilted under combined resistance and began to flee.

Haku chased after them while Liana looked over at Naruto and ordered, "Stay with the client and his wife! Haku-chan and I can take these bastards." When Naruto nodded, she leaped off after her own gaggle of ruffians.

The blonde shinobi was just about to summon up a group of Kage Bushins, when he heard the expecting wife begin screaming. He rushed over to the wagon and saw her clutching at her stomach while her husband reassured her by holding her hand.

Before he could ask what was going on, the wife gritted out, "It's….coming!"

Naruto's jaw dropped and he looked around helplessly for a moment before another scream of pain from the woman drew his attention and focus back to the couple. "Alright, sir, do you have a bowl anywhere?" he asked the client.

The brown-haired man reached over to his left and handed the blonde a large ceramic bowl. Naruto quickly filled it with water from his canteen and found a washcloth before setting it by the bowl. As he lifted the woman's skirt up to her stomach, Naruto tried to recall everything he could remember everything he could about what to do when a woman was giving birth (which pretty much consisted of a couple of scenes he had seen in movies).

"Okay, uh, just breathe now. Breathe," Naruto said calmly and motioned for the client to continue to give support in that way. When the woman's screams and shouts started getting more frantic Naruto began to instruct her to push.

Liana and Haku arrived back at the wagon just as the baby was halfway into the world. The two watched with baited breath as Naruto gently pulled the babe the rest of the way out and cut the umbilical cord with a kunai.

After a quick check of the crying newborn Naruto announced, "It's a boy. Congratulations." The girls came forward and gently washed off the baby before handing him to his weary mother.

The woman looked down at her newborn with a teary smile before she looked up at Naruto. "Thank you so very much," she softly said. "Would you mind at all if we named him after the shinobi who brought him into the world?"

Naruto was stunned by the question and it took him a moment to reply, "I would be greatly honored ma'am. My name is Uzumaki Naruto."

Once they had gotten moving again (after Liana had kissed Naruto's brains out for a good full minute as a reward), they had made it to the town a little while before midnight. The couple offered the shinobi to stay at their home for the night as thanks for what they had done for them. The three accepted and spent the night at the family's home.

In the morning, after a heartfelt goodbye where Naruto had gotten to hold little Naruto, the three shinobi headed back to their own home. When they arrived back at Konoha, they gave their report to the Sandaime (who gave his own congratulations to Naruto) the three headed back to Anko and Kurenai's apartment to tell them, along with Hinata who was visiting, of what occurred.

As he lay in bed that night, cuddled up next to a topless Liana, Naruto wondered what life would send his way next.

~~ **Chapter End ~~**

**Unknown-nin345: Alright, that's the end of the fifth chapter and thanks for reading. **

**So then, Anko and Kurenai are now married. Haku and Hinata are getting interested in each other. Just what is it that Hinata wants to hide? A tattoo, a hideous boil/rash, or maybe a birthmark. Only I know, so you're all going to have to wait.**

**I'm actually surprised that I'm trying to make Kakashi an actual sensei in this fic. Weird, guess I just wanted a break from the normal, Sasuke-focused/lazy Kakashi. Go figure.**

**P.S.- Ahiru-oshiri=duck-butt**

**Sorry again to those Naru/Hina fans out there. If you want, four of my other fics are Naru/Hina ones. And for those of you who are Naru/Haku fans, I have a Naru/Haku fic as well.**

**!!!!!!! REVIEW !!!!!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Unknown-nin345: Hello there faithful readers! As I was looking over the reviews I was surprised at the number of reviewers who thought that Hinata was a futa (hermaphrodite), and while I did think about doing that at first, I decided to just make what Hinata's hiding an extremely embarrassing tattoo instead. Sorry to those who were hoping for a futa-Hinata, but I promise that the tattoo should **_**at least**_** get you to chuckle.**

**Oh, and I probably didn't mention this last chapter, but during the two weeks before Liana arrived, Naruto (along with a whole lot of his Kage Bushins) expanded his apartment, putting in a new room for Haku.**

**I think I've held you all up long enough, onto the Chunin Exams!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Mortal Kombat.**

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Naruto leisurely made his way to the site of the first portion of the Chunin Exams after an enjoyable morning of showering with Liana, something that he had been desperately missing ever since he had arrived in Konoha. While he might have appeared calm on the inside, Naruto was mentally running through a checklist of his supplies, memorizing everything he had in case he would need it.

When he arrived at the building the first portion of the exam would be held, Naruto found that Sasuke had already arrived. As he approached, the blonde gave a short nod to his black-haired teammate which was respectfully returned. While Sasuke disliked Naruto and thought that he was a no-name loser, he couldn't deny that the blonde had impressive skills. They didn't have to wait long for their third teammate who came jogging up shortly after Naruto had arrived, without a word being spoken the members of Team 7 entered the building.

When they reached the second floor Team 7 noticed that there was gathering of what looked like genin at one of the rooms but passed by them without giving the group a second thought and proceeded up to the third floor. There, Kakashi met them at the entrance to the room the exams would be taking place in and wished the three of them luck in the exams.

Naruto just let a chuckle go past his lips before he placed his cryo mask over the lower part of his face and kicked the door down. Naruto stepped into the room and was met with the annoyed stares of all the competitors who hadn't been fooled by the pathetic genjutsu on the second floor.

"What the fuck are y'all looking at?!" Naruto shouted to the crowd, each word accompanied by a small cloud of air from his cryo mask, as he used his control over the wind to conjure up a breeze that made his spiky hair sway. The lesser-willed genin turned away from the display and while the cocky ones glared at him, the few smart genin just nodded with respect before going about their business.

Suddenly, the blonde stepped out of the way of a fist sailing at the back of his head. He turned his gaze over his shoulder and found his assailant to be none other than the pink-haired harpy.

The pinkette seemed to be thrown off balance by the fact that Naruto actually dodged her fist before she started glaring at him, "What the heck do you think you're doing baka?! You've just painted a target on us!"

Naruto just shrugged, "So? If you can't handle the pressure then you shouldn't have entered the exam Haruno."

Before Sakura could reply to that, a shrill screech was heard as a blonde missile attached herself to the brooding Uchiha, "Sasuke-kun!" The pinkette turned her attention the blonde attached to Sasuke and started the customary shouting match between the two fangirls.

The rest of the rookies, along with almost all the other genin gathered and the chunin hiding in the next room, rolled their eyes and wondered what the heck the sensei's of the two girls must have smoking to allow them to enter the exams. The other rookies just ignored the three and engaged in light chatter until a voice garnered their attention.

"You know, you shouldn't make such a racket. A group of green genin such as you would be easy prey for the more experienced ones," stated a silver-haired, glasses-wearing genin of Konoha as he walked up to the rookies.

Naruto stared hard at the silver-haired teen, there was just something about him that felt familiar but the blonde couldn't put his finger on it. "Well that really depends on three things: their skills, our skills, and sheer dumb luck," Naruto said, quoting what one of his teachers at the Monastery said once.

The silver-haired teen nodded in acknowledgment, "That may be true, but what's also true is that some of you here are weaker than others. Look around; there are genin out there from other villages that would like nothing better than to beat you into a pulp just because of what village you serve." The nine rookies looked around and noticed that some of the Iwa genin out there were glaring pretty hard at them, causing a couple of the rookies to gulp nervously.

Naruto saw what was happening and decided to level the playing field, namely by drawing all the attention to himself.

He threw out an arm with finger pointing at nothing in particular, "Listen up you fucktards! The name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to kick all your asses!" A bunch of the chunin watching through the one-way chalkboard started laughing hysterically at the blonde's declaration while the single jounin among them just chuckled in amusement.

The white-haired teen shook his head as he said, "You are either very confident or very foolish Naruto-kun." The teen suddenly found the tip of a sword resting comfortably against his jugular.

Naruto glared down at Kabuto as he rested one of his kodachi against the teen's neck, "I don't recall ever asking your opinion. And the way I see it, someone who hasn't even given their name really shouldn't be talking at all."

Kabuto smirked slightly and adjusted his glasses, seemingly not caring about the fact that he was very close to having his throat slit, "I see then, how rude of me. My name is Yakushi Kabuto and, unlike you, this is not my first time taking the Chunin Exams."

As Naruto removed his blade from Kabuto's throat and slid it back into the sheath, Sakura asked, "So this is your second time taking the exam Kabuto-san?"

The white-haired teen chuckled slightly, "Hardly, apparently you are underestimating the difficulty of the exam. Since the Chunin Exams occur twice each year, this is my seventh time taking the exams." Ignoring Kiba's shout of 'You must suck then!' he pulled out a stack of cards and said, "As such I've managed to develop a technique to store the information I've gathered easily."

The black-haired Uchiha strutted up to Kabuto and asked, "Do you have any info on individuals?" At Kabuto's nod Sasuke said, "Then I want to see the ones for Sabaku no Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto."

"Aw, you made it too easy," Kabuto whined before he pulled out two cards from his deck and channeled a small amount of chakra into them. "All right, first up is Sabaku no Gaara. He's got 8 C-ranks completed and 1 B-rank. Wow, a B-rank as a genin, and apparently he's returned from every mission without so much as a scratch. Other than that I got nothing since he's a relative newbie to the game."

With that Kabuto slid the card back into his deck and held up the other one he had pulled out, "Now then, Uzumaki Naruto. He's your teammate, as I'm sure you already know, with his sensei being Hatake Kakashi. He's got 35 D-ranks, 1 C-rank, 1 B-rank, and an A-rank; impressive for a genin not even six months into his career. He's proficient in kenjutsu and average in all other ninja aspects aside from his nonexistent skill in genjutsu. And there's a rumor floating around that he has a unique ke--" Whatever Kabuto was going to say was cut off as he was slammed into the wall by Naruto, who had his arms crossed over Kabuto's chest so that he could rest both of his combat knives on the silver-haired teen's throat.

"I know you weren't just about to say that, right Kabuto-san?" Naruto questioned as his blades lightly bit into the older genin's throat, drawing a tiny hint of blood.

A series of smoke clouds erupted in the front of the room, announcing the arrival of the proctors. The lone jounin standing there stepped forward and shouted, "You two in the back! Separate now!" Naruto reluctantly backed off from Kabuto and slid his knives back into their hidden sheaths in his boots as the jounin continued speaking, "The rest of you listen up! From now on, any unsanctioned fighting will result in your team's immediate expulsion from the exam. Am I understood?"

At the lackluster replies, the trenchcoat-wearing jounin just snorted, "I'm Morino Ibiki, the head proctor for the first part of the Chunin Exams. Now, come up to one of the chunins standing here at my sides and take a number. Once you get it find your seat." Seeing the slow movements of the genin, the bear-like Ibiki let out a small bit of killer intent and shouted, "Move it NOW!"

Once all the genin had been seated, Ibiki smirked darkly. "Now then, the exam will be just that: a written test. There are ten questions you have to answer. Every time we catch you cheating, you lose two points out of the total ten you can get. If you get caught five times, you get thrown out. Finally, if even one member of a team fails, then the other two members fail as well." At that moment Naruto could feel two glares hit his back, most likely from his _teammates_, causing him to begin to think up plans for pranking the two. "Begin!"

Immediately the sounds of pencils scratching on paper and muttered curses filled the room as the genin started on the first exam. Slowly, the genin started to figure out the hidden meaning in the proctor's instructions and started cheating as inconspicuously as they possibly could.

Naruto himself was simply waiting for either Sakura or some other genin to finish the exam so he could put his plan into effect. Soon enough, the blonde saw one of the other genin in his row finish their exam. With an unseen smirk Naruto stood up, ignoring the stares he was getting from everyone else and walked over to where the genin who had finished his exam sat. Without saying anything, Naruto leaned over that genin's shoulder and started memorizing a couple of the answers written. Once he was certain he had gotten the answers in his head, Naruto went back to his seat and filled out the answers on his own sheet.

When he finally put his pencil down, Naruto noticed that practically everybody in the room was staring at him. After looking around in confusion, Naruto looked back up at the bandana-wearing jounin and blandly stated, "You never said we couldn't leave our seats."

Ibiki pinched the bridge of his nose to calm his rising frustration. Seeing that a couple of the other genin were getting ready to imitate what the blonde had just done he shouted, "Anybody who does what HE just did will automatically fail!" The frightened genin quickly turned their eyes back to their tests, causing a couple of the chunin to snicker.

Forty-five minutes later, Ibiki stood up from his seat at the front of the room, "Alright that's it! Pencils down!" Once he saw that all the genin had complied with the instruction he resumed speaking, "I'm sure that you all noticed that the tenth question was blank. That is because I'm going to give it to you now."

After pausing to listen to some of the mutterings of the genin, Ibiki smirked slightly, "But before we get to it I need to tell you about the added rules of the tenth question…the rules of desperation." Throughout the room, all the genin tensed in nervous anticipation. "First, for the tenth question, you must decide whether or not you will take it."

"Choose?!" a blonde girl from Suna shouted. "What happens if we choose not to take it?!"

The girl was immediately silenced by the dark glare Ibiki sent her way. "Should you choose not to take it, your points will automatically be reduced to zero. You fail…along with your teammates!"

"What the hell kinda rule is that?" One genin shouted and was followed by another, "Of course we'll take the tenth question!"

Ibiki ignored their outbursts, his whole posture saying that he couldn't care less, and stayed silent for a moment before he continued speaking, "And now…the other rule." Seeing that he once again had their attention, the bandana-wearing jounin mentally smirked, "If you choose to take it…and answer incorrectly…that person will lose the right to ever take the Chunin selection exam again."

"What kind of stupid rule is that?!" one Kiba Inuzuka shouted. "There are loads of genin here who've taken the exam before now!" A couple genin began muttering in aggravation.

Ibiki started chuckling lowly before he suddenly stopped and let loose a mild blast of KI (killer intent), "Well that's just your rotten luck. This year…it's my rules."

A tense silence filled the room as each of the genin weighed their options. Suddenly, genin from each of the villages started raising their arms and proclaiming that they couldn't go on. Team by team, more and more of the genin filed out of the exam room until there was a little over half of the original number of genin left in their seats.

Ibiki, looking around at the still remaining genin, decided to take one last stab at whittling down the numbers, "Remember, if you answer the question wrong you will fail and will remain a genin…forever." A couple of the genin decided they couldn't take the pressure and signaled they couldn't continue.

The tokubetsu jounin took one last look around but paused at one particular genin. In his glance he had seen many expressions on the faces of the genin: nervous, determined, icy calm, and even just plain apathetic. But a certain spiky-blonde-haired brat had the fucking nerve to be sleeping during his exam!

'_Ah hell no,'_ Ibiki thought as he pulled out a kunai quickly threw it at the snoozing Naruto, knowing that the kunai would simply hit the metal mask the blonde was wearing. What happened next surprised everyone there.

Naruto stopped the kunai with one finger without getting pierced by the metal tip (thanks to a little bit of wind manipulation). The blonde opened his eyes and lazily stared at the head proctor, "You know... it's kinda rude to throw a knife at someone who's napping."

"Aren't you worried about being a genin forever?" Ibiki asked with an eyebrow raised.

Naruto snorted in response, "Hell no. And even if I do become a genin forever, so what? It's not like I need to be a specific rank to be Hokage anyway. I'll see this exam through to the end."

"Is that your final answer?" the bandana-wearing jounin inquired.

"I never go back on my word. That's my unbreakable nindo, my ninja way," Naruto stated with a vicious smirk. All throughout the room the various genin could feel their spirits lift and become emboldened through that simple statement.

As his gaze swept over the remaining genins, his thoughts were a little miffed, _'Damn that brat… 72 genins which means 24 teams. Now I owe Anko 100 ryou, she'll never let me live this down.'_

"If that's really your answer then I have only one thing to say to you." Ibiki paused to build up the suspense before he smirked, "You all pass." The room suddenly became so silent that you could have heard the tiniest pin in the world drop on the softest carpet possible, then almost all of the genin started shouting at the same time. A sudden, but brief, blast of killer intent that came out of nowhere suddenly brought the shouting to a stop; Ibiki looked around the room as he tried to spot where the KI came from, to no avail.

"So, um, what about the tenth question?" a certain pink-haired banshee asked.

The leader of the Torture and Interrogation department snorted in amusement, "There never was a tenth question. Or…I suppose you could say that your decision to either stay or leave was the tenth question."

"Then what about the first nine questions?!" the blonde kunoichi from Suna shouted. "If everything was riding on the tenth question than the first nine were pointless!"

Ibiki shook his head, "No, the first nine had a separate purpose…one that involved another skill set most shinobi should possess. I'm sure that most of you came to the conclusion that in order to pass, you had to cheat. In other words, gather vital information that would determine the fate of your teammates…and of yourself." In the silence that followed Ibiki started to slowly remove his bandana as he said, "In times of war the right information can mean the survival of your teammates, but if you gather it poorly and are caught…well see for yourself."

With that statement, Ibiki fully removed his bandana to show the startled genin what lay beneath. A vicious scar ran along the top of his head along with scattered holes that showed just what kind of torture the tokubetsu jounin had gone through. All throughout the room a majority of the genin were either unaffected or felt sick to their stomachs (a certain pinkette actually let loose her breakfast on the genin sitting next to her).

"Remember this lesson well," Ibiki said as he tied his bandana back onto his head.

"But wait," the same kunoichi from Suna started with her eyes narrowed, "what about the tenth question?"

Ibiki actually gave off a small smile, "Question ten was the true purpose of the first exam. The 'Take or Not Take' aspect, the willingness to put your life on the line or not. Obviously both are tough choices, so the tenth question is designed to test this. To see if you were willing to take a true leap of faith, that is what chunins face when they are assigned missions."

Ibiki clasped his hands behind his back as he continued to explain, "Say you get assigned a mission to retrieve a vital document. The amount of enemy ninjas, their abilities, etc, are unknown to you. Do you simply reject the mission because you are afraid? The answer is HELL NO!" Some of the genin jumped at his sudden shout. "No matter what the danger is, there are going to be missions out there that you cannot avoid. The ability to be courageous and to survive any hardship… that is something you will need if you want to become a chunin. Those genin just now who refused to take the tenth question, don't deserve to become chunin in my opinion."

The scarred jounin let his gaze slip over the room, "However those of you who have stayed to take the tenth question have proven you have the guts to become a chunin that will be in charge of small-time missions. You all have passed the first part of the Chunin Examinations; I wish you all luck with the rest of the exam."

Before the genin could begin to celebrate a ball of black cloth suddenly crashed though one of the windows, scaring the hell out of a lot of the genin. The cloth unraveled with a small of mount of kunai making sure that it clung to the walls, revealing the words: "The super sexy second examiner has arrived!" Still in his position behind the unrolled cloth, Ibiki chuckled to himself, _'Heh, she always did have a flair for the dramatic.'_

"This is no time to be celebrating!" the figure that had appeared out of the cloth shouted. "The second part of the Exam begins now! Follow me!" Utter, stunned silence met the statement.

Ibiki poked his head around the curtain and muttered, "Bad timing Anko."

The purple-haired tokubetsu jounin blushed lightly before she did a quick head count and turned to Ibiki with a scowl, "You let twenty-four teams pass?"

The scarred jounin just glanced to the side before he muttered, "A certain fishcake we know decided to instill some confidence in these brats."

Anko snorted in amusement, "Bah, I'll have the numbers cut at least in half by the time I'm through with them." Throughout a whole lot of the genins' head one thought was prevalent: _'AT LEAST in half?'_ Before the thought could last long though, Anko shouted once again, "Now to Training Ground #44!"

Once all the genin had left, Ibiki set about collecting the exam papers. When he reached the one that belonged to a certain blonde-haired fishcake his eyes narrowed at the note:

'_Dear Scarhead,_

_I have extremely good reason to believe that the white-haired kid you saw me introducing to my knives is a spy. My reason: he knows about a certain aspect concerning me and the elements. The Hokage will know what I'm talking about. Keep at least a couple Anbu watching the spy, his name is Yakushi Kabuto. Also, when I was grappling with him he felt AT LEAST to be at the same level as Hatake Kakashi._

_--- Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage.'_

After sending off a quick message to the Hokage on a small bird Ibiki chuckled, _'Uzumaki Naruto huh? Interesting guy.'_

~~ With the chunin hopefuls at Training Ground #44 ~~

"Welcome…to Training Ground #44," Anko stated with a wide smile. "Of course, to chunin and jounin here in Konoha it has another name: the Forest of Death. You all will soon come to know why."

After looking around to see if any of the genin had anything to say she continued speaking, "Over the course of the next five days, you will spend that time in the forest in an all-out…scroll battle." To emphasize this Anko held up to scrolls, one mostly white while the other was mostly black. "In order to pass this portion of the exam you must reach the tower located in the middle of the forest with both of these scrolls, one heaven scroll and one earth scroll."

"Inside this forest, you will all be fighting to the death."

****

** ~~ {CHAPTER END} ~~**

**Unknown-nin345: Well that's the end of Chapter six, sorry it's a little lacking in the action department as well as being short but don't worry, next chapter will be Naruto clashing with Orochi-teme. Will Naruto win? Will he even survive? (of course Naruto will, he's the star of the story)**

**For those of you wondering about Naruto's mission stats, here's my reasons for each rank: D-rank= should be obvious, C-rank= the one he took with Haku and Liana, B-rank= when Naruto took down Mizuki with Kage Bushin pwnage, A-rank= the mission to Nami.**

**Also in the next couple chapters will be Naruto's promised payback on Haku and Hinata (which might also lead to my first yuri lemon). **


End file.
